A Leader's Promise
by Phantasmaglorya
Summary: Byakuya finds himself forced to participate in a second killing game on a deserted island and promises to keep his new classmates alive. It turns out to be much harder than he imagined. (Full summary inside; it's basically a rewrite of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair with the premise of: What if there was no imposter and the Byakuya Togami was actually the one from the first game?)
1. The Dangling Carrot

**Full summary:** After escaping Hope's Peak Academy alive, the idea of getting into a similar situation for a second time hadn't even crossed Byakuya's mind. Yet, here he was, stranded on an island with a bunch of people he didn't know and Monokuma trying to convince them yet again to kill each other. Well, he wasn't having any of it. He learned some valuable lessons from the last killing game, so he would personally make sure that there wouldn't be a single murder this time.

At least, that was the plan. It turns out that trying to keep a whole class alive was much harder than just surviving on your own. Apart from handling his eccentric new classmates and looking for clues about why he was there and how to escape, he also had to figure out how to deal with Monokuma's continued attempts to disrupt the peace. It was a challenge, but surely nothing a Togami couldn't handle… right?

(Alternate title: How Byakuya Made It His Business to Save An Island Full of Idiots)

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Dangling Carrot**

In an apocalypse, money held no meaning whatsoever. Neither did luxury goods or even social standing, since there was no real society left. That was only natural. One could hardly expect the word to end without certain values changing. However, Byakuya Togami wouldn't be Byakuya Togami, if he hadn't adapted and set his sights on the thing that had become truly invaluable in the pile of rubble that was the new world.

Food. It had become a rare good that doubled as a means of survival. The despair-driven people one saw on the streets every day were mostly malnourished and unhealthy, barely able to find enough scraps to make it through another day. It was quite pathetic. Byakuya was not on the same level as those peasants. He knew where to look and what to take.

Fruit and vegetables? Barely even worth considering, if a few vitamin pills from a pharmacy raid did the trick just as well. The only good thing about them was that they contained additional water, but even that didn't make up for the hassle of combing the city for a single apple. Not to mention that fresh food like that spoiled extremely fast, so if they didn't happen to be pickled or preserved in some way, fruit and vegetables weren't worth the effort.

Meat posed a similar problem. You needed a cooler to keep it from going bad. At least fire wasn't too hard to come by, with all the burning cars out on the streets. So, cooking it was no trouble, at least. And it tasted delicious too, so he would never say no to some good meat if given the chance. Still, it wasn't too advantageous to hoard a bunch of uncooked meat within a group that was frequently forced to switch locations.

No, there was only one thing that truly mattered in the long run: junk food. Transportable, high in calories and it could be stored for later consumption without worrying about it going bad any time soon. It was the perfect source of nourishment.

As such, Byakuya made it his mission to search every nook and cranny of the destroyed city for anything edible, whatever it may be, eating things immediately if they couldn't be preserved, and bringing back the things that could be, to add them to his personal food reserves. Of course, he generously shared with his fellow surviving classmates if they couldn't find anything for themselves. He didn't want them to starve. But that didn't mean that he just gave away the greasy 'fruits' of his hard labor if it wasn't strictly necessary. He had to re-amass his wealth, after all.

It came as no surprise that he packed on a few pounds in only a couple of weeks after escaping Hope's Peak Academy. Okay, lots of pounds. In fact, he soon looked like one of those lazy people who never got up from their couch except for a raid of their overflowing fridge, although nothing could be farther from the truth.

Byakuya displayed his new physique with pride, as it showed just how much luxury he was still living in despite the end of the world. Plus, it also served to keep Toko away who was still struggling to accept that her 'white knight wasn't handsome anymore.' (Her words. It just went to show how unrefined her taste really was.)

In the end, it wasn't a literal carrot dangling in front of his face that would be his undoing, but a bag of chips lying openly on a table in the living room of one of the houses they were searching. Super-sized, +50% more, as the package promised. He should have noticed then that something was wrong. Something as obvious as this would have been scavenged a long time ago in this dog-eat-dog world.

However, in that moment, that didn't even cross his mind. He stomped over to the table, reaching out for the cheese and onion flavored treat, not heeding his surroundings at all. The snare trap tightened around his ankle and swept him off his feet in an instant. He could only let out a less than dignified scream before he was hanging from the ceiling face-down. Then, something was pressed against his face. A terrible stench of chemicals assaulted his nose. One confusing moment later, blackness engulfed him.

* * *

He woke up to someone daring to lay their filthy hands on his shoulder and shaking him. It could only be Makoto, that hopeful idiot who still hadn't learned that their difference in status meant that he didn't have the right to just touch him for no good reason. He sneered before he even fully regained consciousness and his eyes were just fluttering open.

The sudden brightness made him blink a few times, trying to gather his bearings and make sense of the ridiculous clown mask someone was holding in front of him. A second later, he realized that it wasn't a mask when the face moved its mouth to speak to him. But he couldn't make out the words.

"Huh…?"

The clown frowned down at him.

Slowly, Byakuya managed to make sense of the situation. He was lying on his back in the sand, the sun burned down on him relentlessly as the sound of rolling waves registered in the back of his mind… wait a second. Sand? Waves? He sat up abruptly, nearly colliding with whoever the weird guy with the clown face was. He stared at the vast sea in front of him.

What? How was that…?

He tried to recall the last thing that happened and remembered the obvious trap he had walked straight into. Oh joy. Kyoko would never let him live that one down, would she? He could already picture the smirk she would regard him with while she spouted some sarcastic-

"Hey, are you quite alright?"

He turned his head toward the guy in the white… was that a chef's coat? And come to think of it, that was definitely some sort of miniature chef's hat on his head. His eyes narrowed.

"Are you a cook?" were the first words out of his mouth.

The short guy seemed to be taken aback by the sudden question, until he puffed himself up with his hand on his chest, a superior grin on his face. "I am no mere cook, I assure you!" he proclaimed proudly, "I am the Ultimate Chef, Teruteru Hanamura, at your service! Even one bite of my renowned dishes will make you moan in pleasure and beg for more. You will never want to eat anything else."

So, he was indeed a chef. And an Ultimate at that. Interesting. He could only imagine how delicious the food prepared by someone like him would be. Already, Byakuya could feel his mouth watering at the mere thought of it. "Byakuya Togami," he introduced himself. He looked around, taking in the beach with its palm trees and the other people walking around, most of them looking confused. "Can you tell me where we are?"

Teruteru's face fell as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I'm afraid not. We all just woke up here on the beach, just like you. Nobody knows how exactly we got here from Hope's Peak either."

That caught his attention. "You are all students of Hope's Peak Academy?"

"Yes. Are you, too?"

"Indeed."

He pushed his glasses up, thinking about their current situation. A group of Ultimates woke up somewhere they were not supposed to be, with no recollection of how they had gotten there? That sounded extremely fishy.

His suspicion grew when an overly cheerful white rabbit wearing a pink, frilly skirt and wielding a staff showed up, and announced that they were on a class trip. Class trip? He wasn't even a part of this class, though nobody seemed to take note of that. They were given a bunch of petty rules and the rabbit told them that violence was strictly forbidden on this island.

Byakuya didn't trust it. Why would it go out of its way to say that, if there wasn't a good reason for it? He didn't like the implications it left behind. It reeked of another plot like Junko Enoshima's. Over the course of the next hour of exploring the island and trying to find out more about the rest of the students, he managed to calm his nerves a little. Nothing bad had happened yet, but at the same time he didn't get any answers either. Like, who had trapped them here and for what purpose? Why them? And how?

The where, at least, was easily answered. Jabberwock Island, an archipelago consisting of multiple small islands in the Pacific Ocean. He had heard of this place before. Though, why exactly their kidnapper had chosen this location remained a mystery to him.

The rabbit's weird announcement via the monitors about how she had a present for them all reminded him uncomfortably of the Monokuma announcements he still vividly remembered from the killing game he had been forced to participate in. So, with a sense of dread, he returned to the beach and sure enough, a short time later, when they were all about to relax, Monokuma himself spoke to them through the monitors this time, summoning them to the park. It may have only been his silhouette, but he would recognize that grating voice anywhere.

Of course, it would turn out this way. He cursed in his mind. Now he was trapped in yet another one of those idiotic killing games. And all that had just happened because of a single bag of chips. How utterly stupid.

He didn't know who was behind all this. Enoshima was dead, so this happening again didn't make much sense. But he would find out. And he would put whoever was behind this in their place for trying to mess with him. They thought they could get away with instigating another killing game and expected him to just play along? Well, if that was the case, they were dead wrong. He would make them rue the day they tried to make him just another puppet in their game. He would ruin their fun thoroughly by making sure that nobody would die. That would make the killing game pointless and it would be just another victory for him.

There was not a shred of doubt in his mind that he could do it. After all, he had a huge advantage over them. He already had experience with this situation, so nothing would catch him by surprise. They had a cook on the island too, which was a huge plus. If Teruteru could provide him with lots of delicious food, that was already a step in the right direction. Yes, it would all work out in the end. He, Byakuya Togami, would become the leader that would save every single one of those imbeciles on this island. Just to spite the mastermind behind his kidnapping.

And the cook would help him with that.


	2. First Impressions

**Chapter 2: First Impressions  
**

Someone was taunting him. No, it wasn't just some taunting. It was a challenge. And Byakuya would be damned if he stepped down from it. He would face it like he faced every challenge in life: calm and composed, with the clear intend to emerge victorious.

After Monokuma had used their assembly at Jabberwock Park to announce the same rules Byakuya was already familiar with, he had returned to his cottage, still pondering the situation. The dumb bear actually had the nerve to show up in his room then, staring at him with his head tilted to the side.

"What do you want?" he snapped at the nuisance.

"Oh, I was just wondering, y'know. I have so many fans that even I can't keep up with all their faces. But a TV star like you, there's no way I'd forget about you. Which means you must really be a hardcore fan, if you went out of your way to be able to join my new killing game!"

"Don't be ridiculous," was his response. His voice was full of confidence. "I'm not here to participate. I am here to put an end to your schemes once and for all."

Monokuma giggled with his paws over his mismatched mouth. "Puhuhu, and you think I'd let you do that?"

Byakuya gave him a smirk. "I don't intend to let you stop me. No matter what you might try, I won't let you get what you want."

The bear laughed at that. "Oh, really now? You really think you can save those hopeless losers? I think you might have bitten off a bit more than you can chew!"

He ignored the comment that was clearly aimed at his weight. As if petty remarks like that could get under his skin. And even if they did, they would be stopped by the layers of fat he had wrapped himself in. "I know I can. And I will." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Is that all? You bore me."

"Fine, fine, I'm going. But I can't wait to see your face full of despair when you inevitably fail!" And with that, the bear disappeared, cackling madly.

To anyone else, the short encounter might have seemed insignificant, but to Byakuya it held an important clue. The person controlling Monokuma might not have had anything to do with his kidnapping. After all, he had seemed just as surprised about Byakuya's presence on this island as he was. So, could it be there was a third party pulling at least some of the strings? If so, for what purpose and what relationship did they have with Monokuma? Could the rabbit be behind it? He would have to be careful around her until he figured out her motivations.

Something else that raised more questions was the huge countdown that had appeared in the park overnight. What did it count down to? For now, there was no way of knowing. Neither was there anything he could do about it, so he added it to his growing mental list of unanswered things.

At least his status as the group's leader was quickly established, with nobody raising any real objections. He kept watch over any suspicious activities or signs that anyone was about to crack under the pressure for the rest of the day, but there was nothing that caught his attention. The other students just wandered around the island, exploring or spending time with one another. At the end of the day, Byakuya had taken a stock of all the dangerous items on the island and found the Rocketpunch Supermarket to be a paradise for any would-be murderers. The assortment of items ranged from sharp to blunt weapons to means of hiding or tampering with evidence. The vast array of things that could be used in a killing was astounding. Hardly surprising, if it got stocked by Monokuma. It was a little worrying, if he was honest with himself.

However, everything seemed to stay relatively peaceful, until the next morning when he received the challenge in form of a piece of paper that must have been slipped under his door during the night.

 _BE CAREFUL! The first kill will happen tonight. Someone will definitely kill someone_ , it said in very simple letters anyone could have written. So, there wasn't much to go on from in terms of identifying the handwriting.

That meant someone was planning on making the first move and they were gutsy enough to warn him in advance. They had to be very confident in their skills if they thought they could outsmart him. Byakuya was forced to act, and fast. He had one day of preparation to prevent a killing. With no idea of who the challenger and the intended victim were, it would be hard to plan for any concrete event. There were too many options to consider.

That was why he had to make sure to reduce these options drastically. His suggestion of throwing a party was quickly accepted and they even found the perfect location. As long as they were all assembled in the old building, it would be a lot easier to keep them in check and spot the bad egg.

Well, the Kuzuryu heir had declined the invitation rather rudely, both when Peko beat him to asking the yakuza, as well as when Byakuya himself managed to confront him later. Fuyuhiko was someone he definitely had to keep an eye on. He wasn't just rude, but he also had a violent background and expressed no qualms about killing someone else. He also separated himself from the group. It reminded Byakuya of himself and his own behavior at the start of the first killing game. Which was exactly why he knew he had to be careful around Fuyuhiko. If he was anything like Byakuya, he would be able to go through with it, too.

But it was all good. Even if one person didn't come, as dangerous as they may be, if the rest of the students were all together in an enclosed space, there was no need to worry about the outsider. Of course, there was no guarantee that Fuyuhiko was the sender of the letter in the first place, even if he was the most obvious candidate due to his actions. Byakuya tried to analyze the rest of the students to figure out who might pose a threat.

Well, there was Akane Owari, who was obviously a problem due to how violent she was. However, it was hard to imagine her sending a letter like that. She appeared to have even more bust and less brains than Asahina, which was impressive in a negative way. So, even if she did want to kill someone, she probably wouldn't do much planning ahead.

The other brute, Nekomaru Nidai, certainly had the potential to be dangerous with his strength, but while he at least showed a bit more intelligence than the gymnast, he didn't seem like the type either. Peko Pekoyama on the other hand… he wouldn't put it past her. She, too, had been quickly sorted into the 'dangerous' category in his mind after their introduction, due to her talent. And her quiet nature made it difficult to read her.

Another potential threat was Gundham Tanaka. That guy was obviously not quite there. He had yet to express any tendencies towards violent behavior, but the way he was talking about being an overlord of evil indicated a certain willingness to commit murder. Even if it was just part of his weird crazy talk, it was best to take such implications seriously.

Hiyoko Saionji on the other hand was all bark but he doubted that she had any bite to back it off. She was a little brat, nothing more than a schoolyard bully. She had to be kept in check regardless, in case she actually did have it in herself to do more than just move her mouth. Or in case she managed to provoke someone into killing her. That would be just as unfortunate.

Teruteru… well, he was more likely to commit a different kind of crime, but that was not the point. As for whether he might kill someone, that assessment would have to wait until after Byakuya had eaten some of the food he had prepared. A person's cooking could be very telling about their character. That much could easily be concluded by the one and only time he had put Toko in charge of preparing their dinner when they were in the outside world. It had tasted just as disgusting as she was.

Then there was Hajime Hinata. He didn't remember his talent, which was worrying. On top of that, he was pretty ordinary, but that made him stick out even more. He also seemed to be very agreeable and got along just fine with most of the others. Byakuya found it all very suspicious.

Mikan Tsumiki was too much of a doormat to become a killer, but she obviously wasn't mentally stable either. It was probably better to look after her at least sporadically. The musician, Ibuki Mioda, was annoying and obviously a nutcase, but then again, most of them seemed to be at least a little insane. Byakuya was almost thankful that he didn't have to deal with them during his first killing game. Then he reminded himself that he had to deal with them _now_ , which was only marginally better.

The rest of them appeared to be more or less normal, thankfully. Kazuichi Soda, even though he looked like some sort of punk, was actually a bit of a wimp. That foreigner, Sonia Nevermind, was a little strange due to cultural differences, but apart from that, she seemed composed and dignified, as a princess like her should be. That also meant that she was probably quite intelligent.

Nagito Komaeda was peculiar in the way he reminded Byakuya of Makoto, but that was about it. It was quite curious. They had the same talent, the same friendly nature, even the same style to some degree. What was it about lucky students and green hoodies? And, like Makoto, he spoke like he didn't feel he was on the same level as the other Ultimates. Why was it that these foolish commoners always just accepted their roles in life without trying to do anything about it? Byakuya would never understand the sentiment.

Chiaki Nanami only showed enthusiasm towards games of all kinds, but thankfully it seemed like she wasn't interested in a killing game. She also gave off the impression of being somewhat lazy, or generally very passive. With the way she frequently fell asleep, and how she didn't have any strong reactions to anything, she seemed harmless enough for the time being. If anything, he might have to watch out that nobody would attempt to kill her while she was sleeping or distracted by the arcade machine.

And as for Mahiru Koizumi, she apparently held a grudge against males in general, though for what reason he couldn't figure out. There didn't seem to be any real ill will behind it, either. It was more like she was expressing a prejudice she had against them. She was a little forceful, but she didn't strike him as a troublemaker.

In the end, he didn't come to a conclusion on who it might have been, even after the party started. But he had taken all the necessary precautions to prevent anything from happening, so he was confident that he would win against the unknown opponent. He had confiscated all the dangerous items he could find on any of the students, raided the supermarket for anything that could be helpful in any kind of situation imaginable and generally made sure that the location was secure. Everything was accounted for.

But even all of that didn't manage to scare the challenger away. That much was evident when the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. There was no way this could be mistaken for anything but an attempted murder. A coincidence was completely out of the question. Which was why he wasted not a single second in reaching for his duralumin case for his night-vision goggles. He just hoped that the culprit was someone in the room. If it was one of the others, like Peko, he might not be fast enough to get there to stop them.

He quickly scanned the room as soon as he had put the goggles on, ignoring the confused remarks of the other students. Immediately, he caught sight of something alarming. Across the room, Nagito was using a power cord to reach the table at the back of the dining hall and was about to lift up the tablecloth.


	3. As Luck Would Have It

**Chapter 3: As Luck Would Have it**

The sight of Nagito, of all people, moving under the cover of darkness, threw Byakuya off guard. He had completely disregarded the Lucky Student as a threat due to his likeness to Makoto. That had been a mistake, apparently. He was only stumped for a second, then he raced across the room in order to thwart the other boy's plans. He arrived at the long end of the table, throwing back the tablecloth just as Nagito disappeared beneath it from the side.

The knife, stuck to the underside of the wood with glowing duct tape, was immediately noticeable. His first instinct was to push Nagito away and make a grab for it before he could take it, but something else caught his attention. A small movement from beneath. With a frown on his face he spared a glance downwards and what he saw through the cracks in the floorboards made him freeze. Teruteru was standing there, holding a white sheet over his head. There was a long skewer in his hands. His eyes were fixed on the general direction of the knife, brows furrowed in concentration.

Just what in the world was going on here? Wasn't one person planning a murder enough? He pieced the information together immediately. Teruteru wouldn't be able to see anything but the glowing paint in the dark and he was holding a weapon. It was obvious that he was just lying in wait to kill whoever was going to take the knife. That meant Byakuya couldn't crawl any further to reach for it, lest he bring himself in danger. He might have sworn to keep the other students alive, but that didn't mean he would be risking his own life for that end.

The second of hesitation was enough for Nagito to stretch his hand out to the knife. "Don't!" Byakuya shouted, not knowing exactly who he was directing the command to. It didn't matter anyway. Neither of them listened to him. Teruteru readied his skewer the second Nagito ripped off the knife.

Byakuya only had a moment to react. Immediately, he made a grab for Nagito's left arm, yanking him hard towards himself. It was a risk, bringing an armed person closer, but if he didn't act, Nagito would be dead within a minute. A startled noise came from the boy when his arm stopped supporting his body weight and he was hauled to the side just as Teruteru stabbed upwards. A cry of pain indicated that he hit his intended target.

However, Byakuya couldn't see what was happening under the table anymore. The edge of the tablecloth had fallen down again in the scuffle, hiding Nagito's lower body from view. Byakuya himself toppled backwards, hitting something that turned out to be a person. Whoever it was cried out in surprise as he was knocked over.

Chaos broke out; people were shouting and stumbling about in a twinge of panic. "Nobody moves!" Byakuya's voice boomed authoritatively over the din of noises. "And Teruteru, stop that this instant, if you don't want to get executed!" He was counting on the possibility that he would be too alarmed at being found out to do anything else. At the very least it might buy him some time to get Nagito out of his range.

"Wa-wa-wa-!" The cook's voice could be heard through the floorboards as the shuffling in the dining hall slowly died down. "N-n-no, that's not-! I didn't mean-! I didn't want to! _H-he_ was the one-!"

Byakuya ignored his panicked stuttering in favor of sitting up, quickly taking in the aftermath of the attack. Nagito, though his face was scrunched up in pain, was alive, but not necessarily out of any immediate danger. He couldn't tell where Teruteru had gotten him or if the wound would be fatal. He didn't waste any time and dragged the injured boy all the way out from under the table, so he would at least lie on the portion of the floor where the carpet covered the gaps in between the boards. Just in case.

Everything seemed to pause for a second and the resulting silence was only accentuated by the sounds of nervous breathing across the room. Then something clattered to Byakuya's left and a female voice screamed. "I said, _nobody move_!" he repeated with more emphasis, already anticipating the worst as he turned his head to see what was going on now. Was there a _third_ attacker? More voices rang out again.

"Eeek! I-I-I'm so sorry! Please forgive meeee!"

"Seriously, what's going on?"

"Hey, did someone… y'know…?"

"Can't someone just make some damn light already?!"

Byakuya could only stare at Mikan while he was silently wondering how on earth she had managed to fall and land in a compromising position like that. And her attempts at getting up only made things worse. She was currently in the process of tying herself up with a string of sausages.

"Stay calm, everyone! Everything is under control. Just stay put until the situation is fully resolved!" Byakuya tried once more to create some semblance of order.

There was shuffling behind him, then the person he had knocked over asked, "What the…? Is that a knife?"

Byakuya looked around himself immediately and spotted the weapon, still glowing from the paint on the hilt, a little to his side. It must have landed there in the scuffle. At that moment, Nagito lunged at it.

Before he could really process what was happening, Byakuya instinctively threw himself at Nagito, using his massive weight to his advantage to subdue him and hold him down. The other boy didn't give up, though. Lying on his back, he blindly stabbed upward with the knife now firmly in his grasp. He missed Byakuya's face by a few inches.

Despite his scrawny appearance, Nagito possessed quite a bit of strength, Byakuya found out as they wrestled for the knife. Even operating without his eyes, he managed to fend Byakuya off quite efficiently. With his free arm, he tried to pry off the hand that had attached itself to his other hand holding the knife, struggling all the while so Byakuya had to use his left arm to keep holding him down.

"What do you think you are doing?" Byakuya snapped at him, his voice tinged with frustration. "Let go!"

Nagito's brows furrowed in response. Twisting slightly, he succeeded in freeing one of his legs enough to bend it in front of himself and kneed Byakuya in the stomach.

He wheezed from the sudden blow, his grip slackening, which gave Nagito the opportunity to rip his hand from his grasp. Byakuya hissed in pain when the sharp edge of the knife cut deeply into his lower arm. Reflexively, he flinched back. Nagito used the momentum to push him off further. Struggling to sit up, he raised the knife above his head, ready to strike again.

Byakuya had nothing to defend himself with. He barely had enough time to bring up his arms in front of himself for protection, hoping that Nagito's aim would be off due to the darkness.

But the impact never came. Instead, two arms wrapped themselves around Nagito's arm from behind, holding it in place. Surprise crossed the face of the Ultimate Lucky Student. "No!" He exclaimed, trying to yank his arm from the grip. "I can still-" But Byakuya had already pounced on him and with the help of Hajime incapacitating Nagito's arm, he could finally disarm the boy.

Nagito was wriggling beneath him in an attempt to get away, but Byakuya grabbed his other free arm as well and directed it to Hajime. "Here, hold him down," he commanded, and after a moment of confused fumbling, Hajime had secured both of Nagito's arms. With Byakuya sitting on his legs, he was completely immobilized.

Byakuya quickly slipped out of his dress jacket and wrapped the knife in it, so its glow wouldn't attract any more wannabe murderers like a light bulb would lure in moths. Leaning backwards, he slipped the bundle of cloth underneath the same table Nagito had taken it from in the first place, just for good measure. As soon as the knife was out of his sight, Nagito stopped fighting against them. In fact, he seemed to deflate as he laid unmoving on his back, staring into the dark with unseeing eyes.

Quickly, Byakuya glanced around to make sure he hadn't missed anything else that was going on while he had been distracted. The noise had obviously left the rest of the students in distress. They were restless, shouting confused questions or moving carefully in the dark with their hands outstretched in front of them. Only Mikan was lying on the floor, not moving anymore. She had apparently given up on getting out of her precarious situation, whimpering quietly to herself.

The door was open. He quickly checked each of them in turn and realized that Kazuichi and Sonia were missing from the room. He faintly remembered the mechanic telling them that he would try to do something about the power outage shortly after the lights had went out. But it was still dark and he hadn't returned. Could Sonia have gone after him to make use of the distraction?

While he couldn't rule out the possibility, he recalled the fact that he had seen the circuit breaker very high up on the wall in the office. It was very unlikely that anyone would have been able to reach it to fix the power, even if it wasn't pitch black. So, it wasn't surprising that Kazuichi hadn't been able to help. That still didn't answer the question where Sonia had disappeared to.

"Everyone be quiet!" Byakuya raised his voice again. He could see the students stop and glance in his direction, but their faces were still full of distress. "There has been an issue, but it has been resolved. Nothing is going to happen to you. Just remain calm for the time being. That's your leader's order! I need you to stop panicking and do as I say. Did I make myself clear?"

There was a certain amount of hesitation mixed into their reactions, but in the end, they were all nodding or making some sound of agreement.

"Byakuya?" Hajime asked quietly next to him. "Do you know what's going on? I just saw the glow and-"

"Yes," he interrupted him curtly. "I could see it all. Good thinking on your part. More importantly-"

He didn't get to finish, because at that moment, the lights came back on. It was accompanied by surprised noises coming from the students. Byakuya quickly took off his night-vision goggles and squinted at the sudden brightness.

"What on earth is the meaning of this?!" the boisterous voice of Nekomaru reverberated through the room, making him glance up.

The coach, who was standing closest to them, was staring in shock at the scene of Byakuya and Hajime physically restraining Nagito on the floor. That drew the attention of the others and they shuffled closer, loudly expressing their feelings about this. How annoying.

"Byakuya, your arm!" Hajime sounded worried.

Byakuya quickly glanced down at himself, only now noticing the torn and bloody sleeve over the deep gash in his right arm. "That is not important right now," he dismissed the issue. He quickly moved on to study the student beneath him. Nagito was looking at him evenly, showing no emotion, but that wasn't what worried him. His green jacket was tinted red with blood on the right side of his body. An abdominal wound?

He cursed under his breath, then looked up again to give out instructions. "Mahiru, help Mikan up, so she can treat Nagito." When the girl just stared at him, he snapped, "Hurry up, he is injured!" That spurred the photographer into action and she quickly made her way around the table, not even questioning the state she found Mikan in.

"How did he get injured in the first place?" Hiyoko demanded to know. "Didn't you confiscate all the dangerous items? Don't tell me he tripped on thin air like that pig shit over there."

Mikan wailed loudly, apologizing for existing or something like that. Frankly, Byakuya didn't care. There were more pressing things to focus on right now. He briefly considered not telling them what happened, but if he was going to order them to leave the room, he needed them to be on guard.

"The details are not important right now, but he got attacked by Teruteru," he said. There, that had to suffice. Byakuya ignored the gasps and turned to Nekomaru. "I need you to stay here with Hajime and keep Nagito restrained without hindering Mikan. Make sure he doesn't get an opportunity to attack anyone. He is not as harmless as he looks. Do you understand?"

"A-ah, yes," Nekomaru answered quickly. Hajime nodded with a frown on his face.

"Does any one of you know how to get beneath the floorboards?" he now asked loudly. Nobody answered, some were shaking their heads. Great. "Listen, I've got some tasks for all of you, so you better pay attention. If anyone comes across Teruteru, restrain him, or if you can't do that, notify anyone else immediately."

"Notify, how?" Ibuki asked with her hand raised up in the air.

"I don't care. Yell for help or something." He waited for the girl to nod, before he continued. "Alright, then. Ibuki, you go and look for Sonia. Hiyoko, you go to the office and see if Peko and Kazuichi are there."

"Gotcha!" Ibuki complied easily with a salute and rushed out of the room. Hiyoko lingered for a moment longer and almost looked like she was going to disobey, but then she quickly followed her.

Now, Byakuya got up from the ground, while checking that Nagito wouldn't try to break free from Hajime's grip again, but he didn't. He seemed to have silently accepted defeat. Nekomaru was taking his place now in holding down his legs.

In the meantime, Mahiru had finished disentangling Mikan and the nurse rushed over to them. For a moment, she looked panicked at the sight of her bleeding classmate, then her demeanor changed and it was replaced by calm professionalism. Satisfied that Nagito was in competent hands, Byakuya stepped away to allow her access.

A second later, he was already striding across the room, picking up his pepper spray and the key for the second duralumin case containing the weapons in the process. He wasn't going to just leave it unattended. Then he nodded to Mahiru. "Go outside and inform Chiaki about what has happened. Akane, Gundham, you are coming with me. We are looking for Teruteru. Don't hesitate to stop him if he tries to escape."

"Can't we finish eating fir-"

"Now!" he bellowed impatiently. With a look of regret, Akane stuffed the entire meat pastry she was still holding into her mouth and followed him, chewing quickly.

The hallway was different. The fire door in the corridor leading to the kitchen and storage room was half-closed. Byakuya gestured to his two companions and hurried over to the kitchen. As he had already suspected, it was empty.

They didn't wait around and continued over to the storage room, finding the door slightly ajar. Byakuya pushed it open carefully, but the room was deserted as well. However, his eyes immediately focused on the trap door on the floor. It was wide open, with a set of stairs leading beneath the building.

"Wait here," he instructed Gundham and Akane and climbed down. The faint light of the moon dimly filtered through the wooden bars that blocked the way outside all around the building. Teruteru couldn't have escaped from here. He had to have gone back through the storage room.

Something glinting on the ground made him go a little further. It was an iron skewer, red with blood. It had a handle in the shape of a bone. Of course. The giant meat on the bone. So, he really did end up overlooking something. How unlike him. Though, he had to admit it was a clever hiding place.

When he looked up, he could see a glowing mark from the same paint that was on the duct tape and the knife handle on one of the floorboards above him. So that was how Teruteru had known where he had to be. That didn't explain where he had run off to, though. He quickly picked up the skewer and returned to the storage room.

Akane just ogled him, but Gundham took a step back at the sight of the weapon, raising his hands as if preparing himself for a fight. "The juice of life that is still coating the blade and the dark ominous aura that clings to it-! There is no doubt… This is the cursed Sword of Bone Teruteru wielded this night, isn't it?"

"It's just an iron skewer," Byakuya corrected him impatiently. "And yes, that is the case." He looked around himself, spotting a laundry basket containing a bloodied tablecloth that had been thrown into it. So that was what the white sheet had been. He went over to the basket, pushing the soiled cloth aside and shoved the skewer in as deep as he could so it would be difficult to find or access.

"How nefarious," Gundham grumbled. "Was he perhaps possessed by a demon of the Nether Realm?"

When he was satisfied with the hiding place, Byakuya straightened back up. However, as he did so, he felt the blood rush from his head and black spots danced across his vision for a moment.

"Hey, easy now!" He faintly heard Akane's voice and his sight cleared again to see her holding him upright with a firm grip on his shoulders. "You shouldn't be walking around like this, dripping blood everywhere. You'll just get woozy like right now."

After making sure that he could stand on his own, she turned around and, without hesitation, made a grab for Gundham's scarf. The breeder took a startled step back, gripping at the piece of clothing she was now pulling at, but his retreat was stopped by the doorframe behind him "What do you think you are doing, you fiend?!" He exclaimed immediately, his voice sounded more alarmed than angry.

"Calm down, I just need your scarf." She practically ripped it out of his hands when she was done unwrapping it from his neck. Once she had forcibly taken possession of it, she immediately turned around again and used it to bind off Byakuya's right arm so tightly that it almost felt like it cut directly into his flesh. Gundham was left muttering something under his breath as she did so, but the athlete ignored him.

"There, all done," she announced, satisfied with the result.

Byakuya mentally agreed, this would suffice to dim the blood loss. He probably should have done that sooner, he conceded, but the urgency of the situation had led him to ignore his own injury for the time being.

With a nod and a quick "Good work," he left the storage room, hearing the other two trailing behind. When they turned the corner, they were greeted by the sight of most of their classmates assembled in the hallway in front of the dining room.

"There you are!" Mahiru exclaimed reproachfully, with her hands on her hips. "Where have you disappeared to? We were looking for you!"

" _We_ were looking for Teruteru," Byakuya replied with just a hint of annoyance seeping into his voice. Apart from the four people who had been left in the dining room, it seemed most of them had turned up again. He spotted Sonia and Kazuichi in the crowd; both of them looked unharmed. Even Chiaki was with them. The only ones still missing were Teruteru and-

"Where is Peko?" he asked immediately.

"We don't know! She wasn't in the office," Ibuki piped up cheerfully as if that wasn't something to worry about. "But we _do_ have a lead on Teruteru!"

"And where is _he_?"

"Ah, actually," Chiaki spoke up quietly, "we don't know that either. But I did see him leave the building."

With that, she had his full attention. "He left?" His eyes narrowed. "When?"

"I don't know exactly," she replied with a finger on her cheek. "It was a while ago. He seemed to be in a hurry and didn't even answer when I asked him why he was leaving already."

"Where did he go?"

"He went in the direction of the cottages."

He thought for a second about the best course of action from here, before saying, "Very well, form two groups and look for him outside. If you find him, bring him back here. No solo missions. If you need to split from the group, at least go in pairs. Sonia, you are coming with me."

"Understood," she said, looking completely serious.

He waited until they were done discussing their plan on where to look first and they marched down the hallway. Then he turned to go back into the dining hall with Sonia, both to check up on Nagito and to have Mikan take a look at his arm.


	4. Herding Cats

**Chapter 4: Herding Cats**

When he reentered the dining hall, he stopped for a second. Only three of the four people who were supposed to be there were present. Nagito was still lying on the ground, his mop of white hair just visible behind the table, with Nekomaru kneeling at his right side. Mikan was standing a little behind them. She jumped when Byakuya opened the door so suddenly.

He resumed walking, quickening his steps. When he reached them, he frowned. The missing student wasn't hidden behind the table either.

"Where is Hajime?" he asked, feeling like he was going to get sick of this question by the next morning. Couldn't they all just stop disappearing for ten minutes?

"I-I didn't have any m-medical supplies to properly treat Nagito, so he went to the supermarket to get some. I did see at least some first-aid kits when I was there the last time. Having one of those would already go a long way, e-even if it isn't much," Mikan replied, wringing her hands nervously. There was blood on the bandages covering her own arms.

Just wonderful. That meant that Hajime was running around alone through the night. He just hoped that he wouldn't run into Teruteru. Who knew what mental state the cook was in right now. Well, there was nothing he could do about that at the moment. For the time being, there were other pressing matters that also demanded his attention.

"How is he?" he asked with a curt nod toward the unmoving boy. His jacket and shirt had been removed and laid discarded to the side. Byakuya noted duly that he was skinnier than expected. He would definitely need to eat more, though the heir couldn't help but wonder if the apocalyptic state of the world had something to do with his physical appearance. But that was something to think about for some other time. Right now, the issue of his injury was more pressing. As it was, Nagito looked even more pale than usual and he hadn't opened his eyes during the previous exchange, but the slight rise and fall of his chest at least meant that he was alive. Plus, Nekomaru was pressing a tablecloth onto his abdomen that was stained red. He wouldn't be trying to stem the blood if Nagito was already dead.

"He has a puncture wound at his side and lost a fair amount of blood, but I should be able to fix him up even without proper medical equipment," Mikan said. Then her gaze wandered down Byakuya's right side. "A-ah, but I should take care of your arm as well!"

Byakuya didn't protest when she hurried over to peel the drying sleeve from his wound. Distress crossed her face once she got a better look at it. "I-It's a pretty deep cut. I'll need some things from the first-aid kit to stitch it up. B-b-but it's g-good that you used the scarf to bind it off! I'm sorry, I should have done that earlier! I'm so useless!" Mikan wailed, already close to breaking into tears.

"No, Nagito's condition was more severe," Byakuya said. "I take it he is not in any immediate danger of dying then?" he tried to confirm.

"Yes. From the shape of the wound it appears that he moved out of the way just in time. The weapon punctured his outer side but missed his organs," she explained, before she added, "H-he was really lucky."

"On the contrary," Nagito butted in quietly, his lips curling into a self-deprecating smile, "this was quite unlucky." His classmates turned to stare at him, but he acted like he wasn't aware of them. He laughed softly to himself and continued as if he was talking to himself. "I really am a failure. Not only was I discovered immediately, I didn't even succeed in getting myself killed. I should have known someone like me couldn't possibly win against someone so completely out of my league. I even ended up putting the Ultimates through the trouble of saving such a worthless piece of trash."

Then his eyes snapped open. They immediately locked onto Byakuya with unabashed admiration. "But what a spectacle it was!" he started gushing, his voice growing stronger with every word. "The sheer amount of precautionary measures you took and the way you thwarted my plans with such efficiency! Just as expected of the Ultimate Affluent Progeny! I am truly honored to have witnessed it! It was a display of the highest form of hope I never would have dreamed to imagine. But there it was! It was so bright, for a moment I was almost sure I could see it glowing in the dark, like a beacon to guide us! It was amazing!" He was breathless by the end and he averted his glazed eyes almost shyly.

Hope. There it was again. This word that struck a chord in Byakuya ever since the last trial. One of the two concepts that seemed to have split the world in two. However, in this situation, the lines between them were blurred. This wasn't comparable to when Makoto had given them hope to hold on to, to save them from the impending despair that was grasping at them. The way Nagito referred to it was different. Distant. He was like a child, talking about their dream of becoming an astronaut, despite knowing that they would never achieve it and that the only thing they could do was gaze wistfully at the starry sky.

And there was something in his eyes. A certain darkness swirling within them. He wondered where he had seen a similar expression before, and it all fell into place when a memory of Junko Enoshima drifted to the forefront of his mind, overlapping with the picture of the boy lying in front of him. It was the same, but still different. Nagito spoke about hope while acting like he was full of despair, but unlike Junko, he didn't seem to revel in the feeling. It was puzzling. And very, very alarming.

"Nagito, what are you talking about?" Sonia voiced all of their concerns.

"T-the blood loss must be a-affecting him. He probably doesn't even know what he's s-saying," Mikan said hesitantly.

"No, that's wrong."

A shudder ran down Byakuya's back and it took him a moment to realize it was because of the way Makoto's catchphrase had spilled out of the other lucky student's mouth. It was just as full of conviction, but that was where the similarities ended. While Makoto always made it sound like he was going to say something relevant and helpful to the case at hand, there was a tone in Nagito's voice that made Byakuya dread his next words, out of apprehension that they might be just as delusional as his previous speech.

He was right to be concerned.

"How could I ever not know hope when it's right in front of me? I knew that this killing game would be the perfect opportunity to see it, to awaken the hope slumbering deep inside each and every one of you. But I never expected-," he wheezed in excitement, "I never expected it so soon, so bright! I could practically feel the hope you emanated washing over me. Like a tidal wave. It almost made my head spin. Yes… I can see it clearly! Byakuya, you truly are the perfect leader who can guide us to hope!"

There was a mixture between a grin and a grimace on his face, like the two expressions were battling for dominance. "And to think- Hahaha… That I would be the one to," he swallowed thickly, his eyes wide, almost bulging out of his head, "that I could be a… stepping stone to… bring it out."

He laughed, wildly clawing at his face with his left arm that wasn't trapped by Nekomaru's body. Mikan jumped forward to stop him from hurting himself, holding his arm down. Nagito didn't seem to notice. When he continued, his voice was low and hoarse and it sounded like he was laying out a conspiracy to them. "I never would have- imagined! It's true, nobody has died yet… That's a shame, but we can't let that stop us from reaching for hope! There will be more… opportunities… and I'll gladly- I'll-"

"Please stop!" Sonia's voice rang out. Her hands were clasped in front of her chest and she looked at Nagito pleadingly. "Please don't say these horrible things! You could have died tonight! We mustn't think about more casualties!"

He blinked at her like he was just woken from a trance. "Ah, I'm sorry," he said. "I probably don't make much sense right now, do I? I'm sorry for not being able to express myself properly. I guess… I am feeling a bit dizzy." Then he smiled and he was back to being the friendly and unremarkable boy from before. Except that he wasn't. They had seen a glimpse of what was hiding beneath that smile. And despite the fact that they were trying to just account it to the injury and the stressful night, neither of them could get the crazed look in his eyes out of their mind.

Byakuya mentally made it a priority to ensure that Nagito was under constant observation.

Thankfully, they were all distracted when the door to the dining room opened. Byakuya scowled when he saw Peko walking in like nothing was wrong.

"What's going on here?" she had the nerve to ask.

He spared another glance at Nagito, but he had closed his eyes again, lying still with a small (blissful?) smile on his face. Then he stepped around Sonia to stand before the swordswoman with his arms crossed. He ignored Mikan's protests at that. His voice was harsh as he asked, "And where have _you_ been?"

She held his gaze for a moment, before she turned her head slightly to the side to look right past him. "It is not important."

"Yes, it is!" he snapped, "You were entrusted with the task of guarding the duralumin case in the office and you just disappeared for no apparent reason! So, I will ask you again: Where have you been until now?"

She sighed, closing her eyes. "You are right, I failed to fulfill my duty." She hesitated again, then she admitted, "I… wasn't feeling too well. I was forced to spend the majority of the evening in the bathroom."

Byakuya was about to say something to that, but her response made Nekomaru perk up with wide eyes. "You mean it's unoccupied now?" And then, without any warning, he shot up, sweat rolling down his face. "Sorry, but I gotta shiiiit!" he hollered, already sprinting out of the room.

Byakuya stared after him. He knew that Ultimates could be a bit eccentric. It was in their nature. After all, prodigies tended to be wired a little differently in comparison to most people. But the more time he spent with this class, the more he felt like some of them weren't just eccentric but slightly insane.

With a deep scowl, he turned back to Peko. "Well, since you messed up until now, how about you make yourself useful for a change and make sure Nagito doesn't bleed out?"

Without any protest she took Mikan's place who had rushed over to keep the sheet pressed on Nagito's wound as soon as Nekomaru had left his post. When that was sorted out, he finally got to address Sonia.

"So, mind explaining to me where you ran off to in the dark?" As he asked that, he turned around to take care of another thing he had noticed before. Since Mikan and Nekomaru had taken the sheet of the table at the far end of the dining hall, his bundled-up jacket containing Nagito's knife was now lying in plain sight. It didn't do to leave it like that, so he went over there and snatched it up while Sonia explained.

"Ah, yes! During the blackout, I heard noises that sounded alarmingly like a fight! I couldn't just stand around doing nothing, but without seeing anything, I was unable to help. So, I left the dining hall using the wall to find my way through the darkness to go outside."

"Outside?" he asked and looked up from the knife he had just unwrapped. "What were you doing outside?"

"Well, Chiaki was standing guard there with Monomi, to make sure Monokuma doesn't show up, right? I thought, if anyone can turn the lights back on, it would be Monomi!" she declared.

"You asked Monomi for help?" He went over to the duralumin case containing his own equipment and threw in both the knife and the night-vision goggles he had also picked up. Then he locked that case as well, and slipped the key safely into his pocket, where it joined the other one. "So, the rabbit was the one to fix the circuit breaker?"

"That's right! As soon as I explained what was happening inside, she sprang into action."

"I see." Well, that was certainly interesting, for more than one reason. Firstly, the rabbit seemed to be as eager to help them as she always claimed. Of course, it could be a ploy to get them to believe her insistence on being their ally. But then again, by resetting the breaker she could have prevented a murder. If she was working together with Monokuma, she would have no reason to do so.

Secondly, Sonia had proven that she was a quick thinker and could act on her own to solve problems. That was good. While he preferred to work alone, because he knew about his own abilities and he refused to have incompetent people mess up his plans, this night had proven that he couldn't possibly do everything himself. There were too many students to keep in check and he couldn't be everywhere at once to settle things. Therefore, he needed some dependable people at his disposal whom he could rely on for important tasks, whether he liked it or not. Sonia was slowly establishing herself as a suitable candidate for the job, as well as Hajime for helping him fend off an attacker he hadn't even seen.

Speaking of dependability, Nekomaru, who threw the doors open as Byakuya was pondering this, was already collecting negative points in that category, as well as Peko. Byakuya impatiently watched the coach approach them with a wide grin.

"Hahaha, sorry I had to leave so suddenly. But whew, I really feel better now."

"Well, am I ever glad about that," Byakuya said, "I think we can all excuse that you had to abandon your duties here just for a visit to the bathroom."

"Thanks! I knew you'd understand!" Nekomaru said cheerfully, giving him an almost painful pat on the back.

"I was being sarcastic," Byakuya hissed through gritted teeth.

God, what had he done to deserve this? He almost preferred life in the destroyed city to this. Sure, he had been surrounded by idiots then, too, but at least they had been coordinated idiots. They had known each other and moreover, most of them had already known the boundaries to unforgiveable stupidity. This island may have seemed idyllic in comparison to the ruins of the mainland, but that was a misjudgment if the only other human beings acted like half of them were at the same level of intelligence as Yasuhiro. For Byakuya, it felt more and more like he was the only sane man stuck in a madhouse.

Fuyuhiko chose that exact moment to prove his point by slamming open the doors.


	5. But the Cats Don't Play Along

**Chapter 5: But the Cats Don't Play Along**

Byakuya regarded him with a disapproving look, while the yakuza just stood frozen in the doorway.

"Is there something you want?" he finally asked when Fuyuhiko still made no move.

The yakuza wrenched his eyes away from Nagito to frown at him. "The fuck is going on here?"

"There was an attack," Byakuya replied brusquely.

"Yeah, so I've heard. But what the hell happened exactly?" Fuyuhiko nodded in Nagito's direction. "Is he dead?"

Byakuya couldn't blame him for thinking that. From his angle, he would barely be able to see more than Peko with the bloody sheet. Nagito himself would mostly be hidden behind the table. "No," he replied just as shortly.

He was still wondering why Fuyuhiko was even here in the first place. What was he trying to accomplish? He always proclaimed not to care about them before and he didn't seem to be the type to gossip either, so even if he did hear about the attack, what had prompted him to come? Moreover, he just kept asking questions and Byakuya couldn't figure out why.

"Which one of you bastards did it?"

"Teruteru." There was no real point in keeping that from him. Even if he didn't say it, Fuyuhiko would hear it from someone else soon enough. "Look, is there any point to your questions?"

"Huh?" Fuyuhiko seemed taken aback for a moment, then he put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the doorframe with a superior grin on his face. "I just wanted to check how you could screw up so badly on such a simple task. I mean, for someone so insistent on wanting to protect everyone, you did a pretty shitty job of it, don't you think? You couldn't even get past the third day without someone almost dying. Are you sure you're even fit to be a leader? Perhaps you should leave that task to someone who actually knows what they're doing."

At those words, a scowl etched itself deeply into Byakuya's face. "I did protect everyone, just as I promised," he said in a low voice. "Nobody died this night. And nobody will die in the future, as long as I have anything to say about it."

"Yeah, right. Forgive me if I don't want to put my life in your hands. If those sheep want to go along with whatever you say, that's their problem. I think this evening proves your competence well enough."

"And of course, I assume you would be much better suited for the job," Byakuya said, sarcasm heavy on his tongue.

Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes. "Sure am, but why would I agree to do this? I don't care about any of you. I'm fine on my own."

A smirk settled on Byakuya's lips. "I guess your title is just for show, then."

"The fuck did you just say?" Fuyuhiko's anger was easily sparked. He clenched his fists and took a few threatening steps into the room. "I'm a yakuza, not a fucking babysitter! If you want to kill each other, go ahead. I don't care! Why would I waste my time trying to stop you?"

His smirk grew wider. Fuyuhiko took the bait. It was almost too easy. "That's what I'm wondering. Why would you waste your time even coming here, if you don't care?"

Fuyuhiko was visibly taken off guard by this question. He frowned and opened his mouth, trying to think of an answer. However, what came out was just a, "Fuck you, I don't have to tell you anything."

It was clear that the yakuza himself knew what a weak answer that was. Why _did_ he come here though, Byakuya still wondered. The way he saw it, there was only one possible explanation. To find out who to watch out for. If he was trying to win the game, Byakuya would have probably done something similar, even if he wouldn't have gone about it in such an amateurish way.

He would want to know who was bold enough to attempt a murder right under everyone's noses. And he would also want to scope out the competence of the group's leader. How he handled the situation and what he did to neutralize the threat. All so he would know what to go up against when the time came to make a move. He would know. He had done something similar in his first killing game.

"So, this is where you ran off to," a voice from behind Fuyuhiko cut through the tense silence.

The yakuza turned around from their staring contest, scowling at the arriving Kazuichi and Mahiru. "Got a problem with me being here?"

"Uh, no. Of course not," Kazuichi quickly backpedaled.

Fuyuhiko snorted. "Didn't think so. Well, you bastards can sort this out on your own, it's none of my business."

"Indeed, it isn't," Byakuya said.

Fuyuhiko answered by stalking out of the room, intentionally bumping into Kazuichi in the process and leaving down the hallway, but not without slamming the door behind himself.

"Geez, what an asshole," Kazuichi mumbled, rubbing his shoulder. "What on earth is his deal?"

"Does it really matter? If he wants to be a stubborn idiot, just leave him be. More importantly," Mahiru turned to Byakuya, "we found Teruteru."

"Where?" he asked sharply.

"In his cottage. He wasn't exactly hard to find. We told him to open the door, but he didn't react at all."

"Not that I can blame him," Kazuichi threw in, scratching the back of his neck. "If Akane stood in front of _my_ door, yelling bloody murder about how she was going to beat me up, I wouldn't open the door either…"

"Well, yeah, she was kind of scary," Mahiru admitted. "If Monomi hadn't shown up to stop her, she probably would have broken down the lock."

"Did he say anything?" Byakuya said. He was slowly growing impatient with how much they went off topic.

Kazuichi answered this time. "Not really. We just heard a lot of sobbing and, okay, he did say some things, but it was too quiet. We couldn't understand a word."

Well, if Teruteru was in his cottage, he couldn't do any more damage. That was something. "Alright. You two go back and make sure that Teruteru doesn't leave his cottage. And for god's sake, tell Akane to calm down. We don't need her accidentally beating him to death. Just guarding the door will be enough."

"Okay." Mahiru nodded her head and turned around. "Come on!" she called out to Kazuichi.

"Yeah, yeah, you don't need to command me around." Despite his words, the mechanic quickly caught up to her. However, just as they were about to leave the room, they were nearly hit in the face by the door as it was slammed open with a loud bang.

"AAAAHHHH!" Kazuichi jumped. Literally. In his split-second of panic as he saw the threatening figure in front of him, he almost fell over when he scrambled backwards. His reaction was partly justified.

Gundham stood in the doorway, both hands still outstretched in front of him from pushing the door. His coat seemed to flutter in the wind, even though they were indoors. There was a dark glint in his eyes as they swept over the people in the room. Nobody would have been surprised if his dramatic entrance had been accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Upon seeing Kazuichi's antics, he immediately focused on the mechanic. "Was that a confession?! Speak now, or I shall know no mercy!" he hollered.

With tears in the corners of his eyes, Kazuichi clutched his chest. "Dammit, you nearly gave me a heart attack! You could at least apologize!"

Gundham narrowed his eyes. "Hmph. Even now you refuse to admit to your sins, although you reek of guilt? Very well. You leave me no choice. I shall extract the truth with force, even if that means sending you to the fires of Pandaemonium!" He struck a pose, raising one hand in front of his face with his index and middle finger up in the air.

Kazuichi took a step back. "H-hold on a second! I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"That's what I'd like to know as well," Byakuya said, interrupting this newest display of stupidity. He slowly felt a headache approaching. Scratch the previous thought about eccentrics. They were all completely insane. Every single one of them. "What is the meaning of this? Why did you come here alone? I explicitly told you to go in pairs, did I not?"

Still glowering at Kazuichi, Gundham replied, "The path I walk is one no mortal can follow."

"That's neither a reason nor an explanation! Why did you come here alone?"

With a swiping motion that seemed to cut the very air in front of him, Gundham pointed dramatically at Kazuichi. "He must have deployed a plot most heinous to steal the Hellhound Earring!" He took a menacing step towards the mechanic, who instinctively flinched back. "Do you not know, fool, that an artifact with an enchantment as intricate as this obeys no one but its rightful owner?"

"What the hell, man? Why would I steal some earring?"

Gundham chuckled mirthlessly. "You must have realized the amount of power it grants the wearer, without being aware of the restrictions. Now, return it at once or do I need to pry it from your cold, dead hands?"

"You're completely nuts!" Kazuichi exclaimed and for once, Byakuya was inclined to agree with him. The mechanic inched away from Gundham in growing fear. "I didn't take your damn earring!"

"And even if he did, I would not allow you to kill him for such a petty reason," Byakuya stepped in. He knew that, if he let this play out on its own, they wouldn't get anywhere.

"If you are not the thief, tell me who is!"

"How the hell should I know?!"

"Are you even sure that it was stolen? Maybe you just lost it somewhere," Mahiru butted in. "Do you remember where you last had it?"

Grudgingly, Gundham tore his eyes away from Kazuichi to look at her. His hand reached up to his scarf, only to notice that he wasn't wearing it, so he just ended up righting his collar. "I noticed that I couldn't feel its presence just now, at Teruteru's lair. It could not have been missing for too long, or its aura would have diminished sooner."

"That doesn't really explain how you know but let's say you probably still had it at the party. You must have lost it during the blackout or the investigation," Mahiru concluded.

"That is a possibility," Gundham admitted slowly. "In that case, I shall retrace the footsteps I left in the sands of time, starting at the birthplace of tragedy."

That apparently referred to the dining hall. With purposeful strides, Gundham went around the room, eyes fixed on the ground like a hawk. Sonia and Mahiru also looked around themselves.

Hajime returned at that moment and looked at the small assembly of people curiously. He must have gotten to the supermarket without any further incident, Byakuya noted in satisfaction. As soon as Mikan saw him, she ran over to him. In her haste, her foot got caught on a fold in the carpet and she fell forward.

With twin cries of surprise, Hajime and Mikan both went down. The nurse shook her head, and when she finally noticed that she was kneeling over Hajime, she shot up with a string of apologies.

"It's fine, really," Hajime tried to reassure her with a red face. "It was an accident, don't worry about it."

Mikan seemed even more distressed by his reassurances, but then she remembered her duty, picked up the first-aid kit and returned to Nagito's side, at a slower pace this time. Byakuya didn't pay much attention to them at this point, since he had to step in when Gundham insisted they look beneath Nagito, to assure him that the chances of him lying on an earring were extremely slim.

As Mikan started working on Nagito's treatment, Hajime shuffled up to their self-appointed leader and asked, "So, what's going on here?"

Byakuya pinched the bridge of his nose. "It appears we are missing an earring."

"It is not just any old earring!" Gundham protested immediately. "It is the Hellhound Earring!"

"Yes, so we've heard," Mahiru said. "Anyway, we're helping Gundham find it before he drives us all nuts over it."

"Saying that like you aren't already," muttered Byakuya to himself. It was probably a good thing that nobody heard him over Gundham saying, "But it seems to have vanished completely!"

"Well, did you stay on the carpet the whole time? If not, it might have fallen through the floorboards," Hajime said.

Gundham perked up with a grin stretching from ear to ear. "The floorboards, of course! If that's where I can find it, I only need to follow the path the sinner has trodden in order to retrieve it!"

Before Byakuya could stop him, Gundham had already turned on his heel and hurried out of the room. Presumably to the storage room. Where the iron skewer was hidden. What a pain.

"Didn't I tell you repeatedly to stay in pairs?!" Byakuya called after him. The sound of fading footsteps was his only answer.

"In that case, I shall accompany him!" Sonia declared. She was already going after him without further prompt.

Byakuya would have preferred it if she had waited for his approval, which he would have given, but the situation had resolved itself in a satisfying manner anyway. Or so he thought. He hadn't accounted for Kazuichi.

"Miss Sonia!" he cried out, looking torn. "You can't go alone with him! It's too dangerous!"

"Did you already forget about your task? You were supposed to return to the cottages! What are you even still doing here?" Byakuya asked him when he took a tentative step towards the door.

Kazuichi shook his head. "I can't just do nothing if Miss Sonia is in danger!"

"Are you not listening? You are not supposed to do _nothing_!"

He definitely wasn't listening. With a resolution born from infatuation or idiocy or both, he tore after the two.

"Come back here this instant!" Byakuya commanded, but to no avail. He was already gone a moment later. Byakuya frowned deeply. They couldn't afford for everyone to leave for the storage room on a wild goose chase for an earring.

"Geez, why do boys always have to be so irresponsible?"

"Excuse me?" Byakuya shot Mahiru a deadpan look.

"Well, what else would you call this behavior?" she asked him, seemingly not even realizing that she was including him in her generalization. "Should I go back alone?"

"No," he said immediately. "I don't want any one of you to go alone."

"Uhm, I don't know exactly what's going on, but if you just need someone to accompany her to the cottages, I could go with her," Hajime suggested.

Byakuya paused and blinked in surprise. He had half forgotten that Hajime was even there. But that would solve the problem at hand. He nodded. "That would be appreciated. Mahiru, you can fill him in on what happened on the way."

"Right. Let's go, then," she said, leaving with Hajime in tow.

Byakuya watched them go, deep in thought. Hajime was a weird one. If he really didn't remember his talent – like Kyoko hadn't – and he was genuinely trying to be helpful, he could be a true asset. But there was also the possibility that he just jumped at the chance to help in order to gain his trust. He hoped it was the former, but his unknown origins were a cause for concern. For now, he was quickly rising in Byakuya's favor, but that didn't mean he was free of suspicion.

Well, only time would tell. He would have to wait and see how things developed with him. For now, he would need to get his arm stitched together, then he could take care of the rest. Starting with Teruteru.


	6. Being Makoto Isn't as Easy as It Looks

**Chapter 6: Being Makoto Isn't as Easy as It Looks**

As soon as Mikan declared that she was done with his arm, Byakuya made his way over to the cottages. The group that had run off in search for Gundham's earring had returned after they had found the stupid thing, so he told Mikan, Peko and Sonia to stay behind with Nagito. Nekomaru, Kazuichi and Gundham came with him.

That he would leave the nurse in charge of the injured was only natural, but he chose Sonia for the job specifically because he didn't trust any one of the others to take the task seriously enough. Peko was just there to ensure that Nagito wouldn't try anything, even though he doubted that would happen. The lucky student was in no condition to do much of anything at the moment. He didn't even seem to be conscious when they exited the room.

To leave the old building, they had to walk around the portable stove that had been pushed against the wall next to the entrance, blocking half of the corridor. It at least explained how Teruteru had been able to move around so quickly in the dark. One more mystery solved.

Upon their arrival at the cottages, they met up with Hajime, Mahiru, Ibuki, Chiaki and a sulking Akane. Byakuya almost didn't want to ask, but… "Where's Hiyoko?"

"She said she didn't want to wait in front of a murderer's door and returned to her cottage," Chiaki told him.

He sighed in annoyance. Without even bothering to point out that Teruteru hadn't actually killed anybody, he went over to the cook's cottage. This was it. The moment he had been anticipating all evening had finally come. After he had tasted Teruteru's party dishes, he had known that his title wasn't just for show. (Had that really been only a few hours ago? It felt like months had passed since then.) He hadn't expected someone who could cook these delicious meals to be the type to plot a murder. And yet… here they were. It was finally time to confront him about his actions. He took a deep breath, then knocked on the door resolutely. "Teruteru!"

The quiet noises from inside stopped. But even after a few seconds went by, he didn't get an answer. He knocked again, more forcefully this time, and raised his voice. "Teruteru, open the door! It's Byakuya!"

There was a drawn-out sob that sounded vaguely like "Go away."

"I will _not_ go away! Open it, now!" He pounded against the door and waited for a moment longer. The door stayed shut. He took another deep breath to calm down and try a more rational approach. "Locking yourself in isn't going to do you any good. You're lucky enough that Nagito survived your idiotic stunt. Don't make it worse by refusing to cooperate with us now."

He could hear a few sniffles, then: "He's… alive?" Oh god, what on earth was that accent?!

"Yes. He lives. Now open the door, I want to ask you some questions."

Another moment passed, then he finally heard Teruteru shuffle to the door. After the audible click of the lock, Byakuya immediately pushed down the handle and let the door swing open. Teruteru flinched back and hurried off into a corner, facing away from them and shaking.

Byakuya followed him inside… as well as the rest of the students. Soon, the little cottage was way too crowded for his liking. He frowned but decided it couldn't be helped. "Alright, now that we can speak like- turn around when someone is trying to talk to you."

Teruteru ducked his head, making himself even smaller, but he did eventually turn around, albeit staring straight at the ground.

Byakuya nodded. "That's better. Now, tell me why you tried to kill Nagito." He didn't bother beating around the bush. He needed answers now. Why had the cook of all people tried to put obstacles in his way? The one person he thought would be his ally on this island. He needed to understand how this betrayal came to be in the first place.

Teruteru's eyes widened. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, before he finally decided to speak after all. In an astonishingly short amount of time he blurted out a fast string of… words? Byakuya had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but it barely sounded like human language anymore.

He cut him off with an impatient "Stop!"

The cook's mouth snapped shut immediately.

Rubbing his forehead, Byakuya added, "Cease this barbaric butchering of our beautiful language and say it again. Slowly. In a way so that we can actually understand what you are saying. Everything else would be pointless."

Teruteru shuddered and swallowed hard, but he nodded his head anyway. After some deep breaths, he tried again. He still spoke a little too fast, but he at least tried to keep his weird rural dialect in check. (Didn't he always claim to have grown up in the city? Just how often had he lied to them?)

"I didn't start it, you have to believe me! I found out what he was planning and I-I just tried to stop him, really! I'm not a bad person, so please! Please, let's just forget about-"

At this point, Byakuya had to cut him off again. "Hold on a second. What do you mean with 'what he was planning'? Are you talking about Nagito? What _did_ he plan?"

"He planned a murder! I swear! I had to enter the old building a couple of times to prepare the food and that's when I saw him!" The words still rushed out of his mouth. His dialect started thickening again. "I saw him planting a knife under the table. And he prepared the irons and messed with the air conditioner timers to cause a blackout, so I knew! And I… I wanted to save you, you know! Please, you-"

"And you thought committing a murder yourself would be the best countermeasure?" Byakuya asked incredulously.

"I-I-I tried talking to him first! But he said he wouldn't stop! He openly admitted that he was going to kill someone and even if he failed now, he would try again! I couldn't let him run around freely! I had to do something! Don't you see? I didn't have any other choice!"

"Are we really talking about the same Nagito?" Ibuki voiced her doubts. "Y'know, unremarkable… boring… no self-esteem? That one?"

"I'm telling you, he's evil!" the cook was eager to assure her. "I couldn't believe it either at first, but it's all true! He's just pretending to be nice, so he can kill us all when we're not looking! When he made his preparations, he was grinning the whole time! It was so creepy! He didn't even want to leave the island. He told me he just wanted the killings to start! Said it was in the name of hope or something, but it didn't make any sense at all."

"You're… you're kidding," Kazuichi mumbled in disbelief.

"I'm not! It's all true! There's seriously something wrong with him, you have to believe me!"

Byakuya would have questioned the story just like they did, if he hadn't seen it for himself. He still couldn't be sure that Teruteru was entirely truthful about everything. After all, there were other aspects he lied about, even now. But he couldn't dismiss the possibility that Nagito was the one who started it all. Byakuya still wanted to hear his side of the story, but recent events spoke for themselves. And his weird babbling afterwards didn't help his case at all. For now, he had to give Teruteru the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was really just reacting to a plot Nagito had set into motion. Still…

"Even if you are telling the truth, that is not an excuse for trying to kill him," he said.

"Well, what was I supposed to do, then?!" Teruteru was frantic.

"You could have told me, or anyone else for that matter!"

The cook opened his mouth, but aside from a small whimper, no sound escaped him.

"If you had just told me about the situation," Byakuya continued sternly, "I could have prepared for it. I would have known that Nagito poses a threat and I could have taken measures to secure him."

"I- But I-"

Byakuya interrupted his stunned stammering. "Not to mention that your excuse doesn't hold up. Trying to save us by murdering someone in a game like this is nonsensical. Even if you could have stopped one killer, we would have to hold a trial to figure out the crime you committed in the process. The result would have been the same. Either you live and we all die, or – the more likely outcome – we find it all out and you get executed. You could have just let Nagito continue without interfering and the only thing that would have changed would be the identity of the victim and culprit. So, stop pretending like you were just trying to help. You must have realized the flaw in that logic yourself, or are you really that stupid?"

"I…" Teruteru trailed off, staring at the ground.

"Well? Why did you try to sacrifice us all?"

"I didn't- You can't just call it a _sacrifice_ like I'm some sort of monster!"

"Teruteru." Byakuya's voice was humorless. He was getting fed up with his evasiveness. "Why?"

The cook flinched as if he had received a physical blow. "I… I just wanted to go home," he finally admitted. His voice was quiet.

Byakuya couldn't believe what he just heard. "That's all?" he asked, trying to reconfirm it. "You just wanted to go home?"

"Yeah, what the hell, man! You risked all of our lives for that?!" Kazuichi asked, balling his fists.

"Nononono, you don't understand! I _have_ to go home! I need to _know_!" Teruteru was gripping his head, burying his fingers in his hair.

"What do you need to know?" Chiaki asked calmly. She seemed to be one of the more composed students… apart from Akane who just frowned in mild confusion.

"My… my momma. She's waiting for me to come back after I graduate from Hope's Peak Academy. Now she's working in our diner all alone and she won't even know what happened to me. I need to go back! What if she," he sobbed, "if she collapses again while I'm gone? Who's gonna take care of her? She needs me! I can't let her do it all by herself. She needs to rest. She has to recover. If I was there, I could run the diner and earn enough money to get her the treatment she needs!"

Teruteru buried his face in his hands and continued shakily, "I promised… that I would become a full-fledged cook and save the Hanamura Diner. She's still waiting for me… but if we lost our memories and several years have passed since we enrolled in Hope's Peak… What happened to the diner? And my mom?"

"But… you always said something like 'I'll never believe something like this'," Kazuichi said.

Nekomaru seemed close to tears himself. "So, you did believe it after all."

"No!" Teruteru protested immediately. "I don't believe it. I'll _never_ believe it! It has to be a lie! That's why I need to go back. To confirm it. To see for myself that everything is still okay…" The end of the sentence was nearly drowned out by another sob.

Byakuya looked down at the crying chef, who looked quite pitiful with his tearstained cheeks and red face, his arms covering his head as he kept his eyes tightly shut. He was trying to hide from the truth like the coward he was.

The sight made him more disgusted than sympathetic, and yet… He understood Teruteru to some extent. He had acted out of desperation, to find out if his family's diner – a trivial business, but it was all his family had been able to accomplish – had been forced to close or not.

He knew the sentiment. When Junko had revealed the state of the outside world to them and the consequent fall of the Togami empire, he had experienced something quite similar. The initial denial and the following feeling of hopelessness as reality settled in. It wasn't just the loss of everything he had worked so hard to reach for his entire life, but also knowing that his family, which he had always held respect for, even his siblings, had been too weak to fend off the disaster by themselves.

There was a spark of relatability he felt towards Teruteru, since he had an idea of how all of this must have affected him. And on top of that, Teruteru didn't have a Makoto Naegi to help him through it. He was alone. That had to be the reason why he had been driven to take such drastic and stupid actions. It looked like Byakuya had to take Makoto's place this time and offer some encouragement and insight himself.

Granted, he had never really understood the need for these… emotional pep talks, but during the previous killing game, he had eventually come to understand that they were necessary at times. And this was apparently one of these times. It was important to recognize past mistakes and learn from them. He had learned that other people placed a lot of importance on emotional matters and if they were in an emotional turmoil, they tended to do some rash things. Therefore, he would do his best to calm the cook down. That was his responsibility right now.

He caught the others' attention by clearing his throat. Teruteru looked up at him hesitantly.

"You're an idiot," Byakuya told him. "Even if the diner was destroyed and your family is dead-" which was very likely, considering the state the world was in "-killing someone won't repair what is already broken. Even if you were to get out of here alone, if it's already too late, all of your actions would be for nothing. There is no need to rush into something stupid, especially if you're likely to only find ruins."

He expected a look of realization as his errors became clear to him. An apology and a "You're right!" maybe. What he didn't expect was that the cook started bawling loudly, fresh tears streaming in rivers down his cheeks.

Byakuya was baffled. Even more so when Mahiru elbowed him hard into the side.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she scolded him. "How can you be so insensitive?"

"Insensitive?!" His glasses threatened to slip down his nose and he quickly righted them. What about his words was insensitive? He just spoke the truth to get him back on the right path!

Chiaki stepped forward. "I think, what he is trying to say is, that this is not the solution. I understand that you're worried, but think about it. You did what you did in the hope that your mother is still alive, didn't you?"

Teruteru sniffled. "Yes…"

"Well, do you really think your mother would want you to become a murderer for her?"

"…No," he whispered, avoiding her gaze, "probably not…"

"There you have it. You could have thought of this a little sooner," said Mahiru, but she didn't sound quite as harsh with him. Byakuya hmphed indignantly.

"I wasn't thinking… I… I'm so sorry, guys. I did something really stupid. I'm so ashamed of myself."

"At least you realized that. What you did is terrible, but nobody died in the end. That's what's most important right now," Hajime said.

"Yeah!" Ibuki made a victory sign with her fingers. "All we gotta do is watch out so it doesn't happen again!"

"What, you're going to forgive him just like that?" Mahiru asked, crossing her arms and looking at them sternly. "I pity him too, but let's not forget that he still tried to commit murder."

"Well," Hajime conceded, "I wouldn't say I forgive him, but I get that it was an exceptional situation. We're all under a lot of pressure, what with being trapped on this island, Monokuma lurking somewhere in the background and telling us to kill each other…"

"What foolishness," Gundham finally entered the conversation. He pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against and stood with both hands planted on his hips. He paused dramatically as his eyes swept over them all, before his gaze settled on Hajime. "With that kind of attitude, you are going to get eaten sooner or later. A wild and dangerous beast isn't going to be less dangerous after a single wag of the finger and some harsh words. You need to keep being careful around it and put even more work into its training, until you can be absolutely sure that it will be a faithful familiar to you, even in exceptional situations, as you called it."

"He is right," Byakuya agreed. He had been watching for a while, since their way of talking to the cook seemed to have more of an effect than his. (He still didn't get what he had done wrong. What did they or Makoto do that he didn't? He would have to ponder this some more later to compare their approaches and determine the exact reason why his hadn't worked.) But now that they were talking about future measures, he, as their leader, had to take back the reins. "Teruteru will not be allowed to run around unsupervised from now on. The same goes for Nagito."

"B-but-!" Teruteru began to say, but Byakuya didn't let him voice his complaints. He had forfeited that right the second he stepped out of line and harmed a fellow student.

"No. It doesn't matter if you don't like it. I promised to protect each and every one of you. I cannot let someone walk freely if they have already tried to kill before. The risk that you might try again is too high. Or would you say that your desire to escape has suddenly vanished?"

He gave Teruteru a knowing look and the cook seemed to shrink under it. "But not if it means…"

Byakuya shook his head. "Saying that now won't make a difference. You pose a threat to the group that needs to be dealt with. If you wanted to keep your freedom, you should have thought of that before."

He paused for a second. "One more question. Did you write the letter with the warning?"

"Letter?" Teruteru blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about…" He sounded genuinely confused, speaking slowly.

Byakuya nodded. "I see." It wasn't surprising. He'd already had a feeling that it hadn't been him. "Very well. I will decide what will happen to you and Nagito tomorrow, after I've heard his side of the story. For now, you are to remain in your cottage until I say otherwise. We will have guards stationed at the cottages at all times to ensure you are following the rules. We need to appoint four people for this night. Two for each shift. Any volunteers?"

"I can take the first shift," Nekomaru spoke up.

Byakuya wasn't too happy about that. Of all people, Nekomaru wasn't reliable enough for his taste. But before he could voice his misgivings, Hajime also raised his hand. "I'll join him."

Good. Even if he was suspicious, having Hajime on the job was much more reassuring.

"Then me and my four Dark Devas of Destruction shall keep watch until the sun rises over the horizon to repeat the cycle."

Another less than reliable candidate. Why did it have to be them? "...Very well. We only need one more person for the second shift, then." Byakuya looked around the room. "How about you, Mahiru?" he asked, when no one else spoke up. She seemed dependable enough.

The girl shrugged. "Fine by me."

So, that was settled. He then turned to face Nekomaru and Akane in turn. "I want you two to come with me. We're going back to the old building to see if Nagito can be moved to his cottage. Hajime, you take up your post in front of Teruteru's cottage. We won't take long. The rest is dismissed. Get some rest," he ordered.

It had been a long day, for all of them. Byakuya himself was eager to wrap things up already. His arm was hurting and the fatigue slowly started to have an effect on him. Tomorrow, he would have to deal with the new arrangements and what to do with the two troublemakers. But that could wait a few more hours. For now, all that was left to do was to relocate Nagito, then he could finally relax and get a bit of sleep.


	7. Night Shift

**Chapter 7: Night Shift**

The night was quiet and peaceful; the sounds of the waves were carried over from the beach by the mild breeze and the stars shone down on them. Even if their constellations were completely unfamiliar to him, they still conveyed a sense of calm. Hajime sighed soundlessly. It could have been a beautiful night. The surroundings certainly were pretty enough. If only they could make him forget about tonight's events…

He had known that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Not with everything running through his head over and over again. Which was why he had volunteered to take the first night shift to guard the cottages.

Just this morning, everything had still seemed alright. Like they could pull through and overcome the obstacles the weird black and white bear threw in their way. Now… things looked a lot bleaker. How could things go from fine to horrible in only a single day? Nobody was dead, which was a relief. But just the possibility that it might have ended differently, that not just one but _two_ of their fellow students were capable of planning a murder, was enough to make him doubt if they could really work through this.

Well, maybe it wouldn't trouble him half as much if it hadn't been Nagito. Hajime wasn't trying to fool himself. He hadn't known the others for very long, but even so, Nagito had quickly become someone he could call a friend. Or thought he could. He had trusted the other boy – didn't really have any reason not to – and wouldn't have imagined that he would get involved in something like this. Much less initiate it.

Maybe Teruteru had lied. It was a possibility. After all, why would Nagito want to start the killing game? It didn't make any sense. Then again, it didn't make any sense that he had been trying to kill Byakuya either.

When Hajime had seen the knife glowing in the dark, he hadn't known anything about what was going on. But he could hear the noises of the fight and knew that whoever had the knife was trying to harm someone. When he interfered, he had acted on instinct more than anything else.

The realization that it had been Nagito he was restraining had been like a blow to the stomach. He couldn't believe it at first. Or maybe he didn't want to. He thought about the possibility that there had been a mistake. That someone else had tried to harm him and quickly fled in the darkness and somehow Nagito got the wrong impression that Byakuya was trying to attack him, so he just defended himself. After all, Nagito was injured, so why else would the otherwise friendly boy resort to attacking someone with a knife? At the time, it seemed like a sensible enough explanation.

Until he was alone in the dining room with Nagito, Nekomaru and Mikan while everyone else was scattered all over the place to perform different tasks. When he had time to think about it and realized that couldn't have been it. Byakuya had been wearing night-vision goggles. Where he had gotten them from, Hajime had no idea. But with those on, he would have been able to see exactly what had happened. And he had ordered Nekomaru and him to keep Nagito restrained. Including a warning about how he wasn't harmless.

With this in mind, it would have been foolish to still assume that Nagito was just an unfortunate victim that was mixed up in a misunderstanding. Even so, it was hard for him to wrap his head around it. The way Nagito had looked up at him from upside down as Hajime kept a firm grip on his wrists didn't make it any better. The small smile seemed like an apology and Hajime quickly found himself looking away and focused instead on Mikan who was fussing over the wound.

When she lamented that she needed better equipment but the only place she had seen first-aid kits was the supermarket, Hajime quickly volunteered to go. There were still students bustling in the old building, but he hurried outside, only stopping once to answer Chiaki and Sonia at the entrance about where he was going.

He had to get out and away from the others. Not just because he didn't know what to think of the person he used to think was a friend, but because the air inside felt suffocating. He had to get a clear head and the fresh night air felt like it really did make a difference. He still hurried; people were injured after all. But he also made good use of the time alone to think about things.

Was his intuition really that bad? Had he missed any signs? How could he befriend someone that cold-blooded?

However, he quickly stopped himself from thinking like that. Maybe he was still jumping to wrong conclusions. Nagito could have a perfectly understandable reason for his actions. It wouldn't be fair to judge him as long as he didn't know the full story. He would wait for the explanation. That was the new plan.

Despite telling himself that, he still took the first opportunity to leave the dining hall again once he returned with the first-aid kit. Of course, it was important for everyone to help, after such a terrible outcome of the night. However, he knew subconsciously that it was in part because he felt uncomfortable in Nagito's presence and any excuse to be somewhere else was very welcome. And deep down he wanted to put off hearing his explanation for as long as possible. Because he was afraid to know. What if his motive wasn't understandable? What if he had to find out that he really was just a terrible judge of character in the end?

His heart sank even further when he heard what Teruteru had to say. Nagito was supposed to be crazy and malicious? Sure, he may have been a little strange at times, but this? Was that even possible? And what would he do if he found out that it was all true?

He realized that when he thought of Nagito now, he felt betrayed. The lucky student had been the first person he met on this island. The one who had been the most helpful all around. One who was understanding and, dare he say it, relatable. They had spent an entire afternoon joking about his possible talent, relieving him of a lot of anxiousness and self-doubt. And now he had to find out that the very same friend was apparently hell-bent on setting this killing game in motion. It was just too… unthinkable. It made him wonder if they had even been friends in the first place or if he had just blindly latched onto the first person available.

"Are you alright?"

Hajime's head snapped up and he turned to the side to see Nekomaru staring at him with furrowed brows. He was standing a bit further down the planks connecting the cottages. Hajime realized he had been staring into space for a while now.

"Uhm, yeah, I'm fine. It's just… well…" He made a vague hand gesture. "All this…"

Nekomaru nodded. "I get what you mean. It is a pretty shitty situation, huh? I don't think anyone could have anticipated it." He spoke in what could be considered a whisper but coming from him it was still the same volume as another person's indoor voice.

"Yeah…" That was certainly true. Hajime hesitated for a second, before curiosity got the better of him after all. "Did he say anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, uh, I mean Nagito. Did he say anything while I was gone?"

Nekomaru frowned. "Well, he did say some… weird things."

"Weird?" Did he even want to know? Why was he asking that?

When Nekomaru spoke, he sounded hesitant. Like he turned every word around in his head before saying it. "I think he was a bit delirious. I'm not sure if we can take it all seriously…" He paused and for a second, it seemed like he wasn't going to continue, but then he added, "He was talking about being a failure. Either for not killing Byakuya or for not getting killed."

"He _wanted_ to die?" Hajime blurted out.

"I'm not entirely sure. It kind of sounded like that. Then again, he praised Byakuya for stopping him." He sighed. "He also spoke about hope, but it was pretty abstract."

Hope? Teruteru had said the same thing, hadn't he? Maybe he wasn't lying, after all? Hajime forced a slight smile on his face. "I see. Thank you."

"I'm sorry." Nekomaru scratched his massive neck. "I guess it must be hard to believe with how close you two are."

"Ah, we're not _that_ close," Hajime found himself saying. "We were just hanging out a couple of times, that's all."

Nekomaru studied him for a second. "Oh. I just assumed, because you were talking a lot. Well, in any case, we should hope that this can all be cleared up tomorrow."

"Yeah."

There was a short pause between them and Hajime went back to stare at nothing. Until Nekomaru spoke up again.

"I think he was right. Nagito, that is."

Hajime's head turned back to him so fast he thought he might get whiplash.

"Not about the stuff he said tonight," Nekomaru quickly clarified. "The thing he said yesterday. When Byakuya wanted us to figure out what we need to get through this, Nagito asked if it was a bond. I don't think he's wrong."

Hajime pondered that for a bit. It already felt bitter, knowing the suggestion came from the very person that had attacked someone else only a day later, but he had to somehow agree with it. "You're right. It would be helpful if we had a bond in our group. At least so we wouldn't have to doubt each other all the time."

"Exactly!" Nekomaru exclaimed enthusiastically, then he sheepishly glanced around to see if he had woken anyone up. Thankfully, the cottages stayed dark and they heard nothing unusual, even after they waited for another moment.

"But it might be difficult to achieve something like that," Hajime continued. "I mean, after tonight…"

Nekomaru looked at him seriously. When he spoke, he lowered his voice again, though that didn't mean there was no strength behind his words. "Well, if you want to build a bond, you need to stop thinking like that. These thoughts are not helping."

"Yeah… I guess you're right." Of course, if he wanted a foundation of trust, he would have to trust the others in return. It was discouraging to think that he had been wrong about Nagito, but maybe Nekomaru was right. If they would try again to build their relationships in earnest this time, maybe they could prevent another incident like this from happening. Still, he didn't know if he was the right person for this. It certainly didn't feel like it to him. "You should talk to Byakuya tomorrow, see if he has an idea to help it along," he finally suggested.

Nekomaru nodded after mulling it over in his head. "Yeah, I think I will."

They were guarding the cottages in silence for the rest of their shift, only breaking it the few times Mikan came out of hers to check up on Nagito. By the time Gundham and Mahiru relieved them for the rest of the night, Hajime felt like he had calmed down his thoughts enough to get some shuteye after all.


	8. A Strenuous Morning

Alright, from this point onwards, the chapters are beta read by a friend of mine. She's gonna give me a slap on the wrist when I try to write something dumb, so many thanks to her. Of course, if any of you still have criticism or questions, don't hold back.

This is also the last chapter I had already posted on AO3. Now that it's caught up, the new chapters won't come out as fast, but I'll still try to update semi-regularly, approximately every two weeks.

 **Chapter 8: A Strenuous Morning**

"Ibuki!"

"Yes, Sir!" She spun around with her usual amount of energy and immediately settled into a semi-serious salute. They were almost alone in the hotel's restaurant area. Not surprising, since the morning announcement hadn't even played yet. The only person present, apart from them, was Hiyoko, but she was still busy preparing her sugar with a little tea.

"Take your breakfast and follow me," Byakuya told her, grabbed his own plate piled with food and turned to walk off.

"Ah! Okie-dokie!"

He looked over his shoulder and saw her catch up to him with long strides. "Soooo, where are we going?"

"To the cottages."

"Why?"

"Just come with me."

When they arrived, they found Gundham and Mahiru still guarding the area. The same scene he had seen when he had left his cottage and made his way to the hotel barely ten minutes ago.

"You two, we'll take the next shift. You can go and have breakfast. When everyone is done, bring them here. Got it?" He was talking to both, but he mostly looked at Mahiru, the one most likely to do as she was told.

"Alright," Mahiru said nodding.

Gundham just stretched his arms and walked off without a word, Mahiru trailing behind him.

Byakuya looked around, but there was no other alternative, so he settled down on the floor with a grimace. It was a good thing that the cottages of the two troublemakers were so close to each other.

Ibuki watched him as he started tearing into his pile of food. She eventually placed her plate on the ground and sat down opposite of him. "So, we're going to be here a while? What should we play?"

"Play?" He cast her a skeptical look. "What are you talking about?"

"Huh? What're _you_ talking about?"

"I'm the one who asked that!" he snapped. "What do you mean with 'play'?"

"Playing is playing! You pick a game and then you play it! Real simple! Oh, or do you wanna play an instrument instead? Ibuki didn't know you can play! How exciting! Aw, but we don't have any instruments, do we? Man, that sucks. Do you think we could make them ourselves? That might actually work! It'd be like a scavenger hunt, only we're looking for instrument parts. Hey, what's the most interesting thing you've ever found on a scavenger hunt? For me it was probably this huge doll sitting next to a dumpster, except that when I tried poking it, it moved! I nearly died from the shock! Turns out it wasn't a doll at all! It was actually a kid who was lost, so we continued searching together, only we weren't looking for things anymore but for his-"

"Stop!" he finally exclaimed to stop the endless flow of words. Chiaki, who was just heading to breakfast, startled and looked over to them for a moment, before she continued.

Ibuki blinked at him. "Hm? What's wrong?"

He rubbed his forehead, feeling suddenly very exhausted. "Shut up for a moment, will you? I can't hear my own thoughts."

Her face fell. "Oh. Sorry, I'll stop now. You won't hear a single peep from…" She trailed off when she saw the aggravated look he gave her. With an abashed smile, she made a motion of zipping up her mouth.

Byakuya sighed in relief. Finally, some peace and quiet. How on earth did she manage to talk without pause?

However, it seemed as if she couldn't stay quiet, even if she didn't speak. Seeing as she drummed a small rhythm onto the wooden board beneath her while she took a bite of the toast with jam she had brought. She leaned her head to the right as she chewed, deep in thought. Then she suddenly turned to him, opened her mouth and stopped short, frowning. "Hey, is the moment over now?" She spoke up with her mouth full, which made him wrinkle his nose at her.

"No."

"But Ibuki wanted to ask you something," she said, pouting.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "You are speaking anyway. What is it?"

Ibuki finally swallowed her food. "Didn't you say you wanted to talk to Nagito? When do you want to do that?"

"As soon as the others arrive."

He would have preferred to talk to him alone, actually, but decided that it would probably be smarter to do it as a group. On the one hand, it was because they would pester him about it if he didn't take them along. He just knew they would. And on the other hand, the previous killing game had shown him that whenever someone didn't know something, it ended in disaster. That had been the case with the motive videos, the embarrassing secrets, the whole mess with the laptop, everything revolving around Sakura… the list went on. That was the main reason why he felt it was more sensible to let them in on it. If he didn't, they might get suspicious and paranoid and end up doing something stupid.

Besides… maybe Nagito would be in an emotionally unstable position as well and while he _had_ thought about it and came to a conclusion on why Teruteru might have reacted badly to his attempt at consoling him, Byakuya would still prefer for someone else to take the job.

"Oh! So, you're waiting and letting them have breakfast first? That's super nice! And super unexpected!"

What was that supposed to mean? She made it sound like she expected him to be some sort of monster that wouldn't allow his underlings to eat before putting them to work. "Eating a balanced breakfast is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. How would you get enough energy to stay productive until lunch? Working on an empty stomach is possible but inefficient," he said, even though that should have been self-explanatory.

"But what about Nagito and Teruteru?"

"I'll bring them something once this is done." Frankly, they had lost any privileges like getting to eat breakfast early when they attempted murder.

"I see, I see." Ibuki nodded thoughtfully, then she raised her piece of toast again. However, before she could take a bite, she stopped with it hovering in front of her lips. Lowering the toast, she looked over at him. "Do you think they're gonna be okay?"

"Who?"

She leaned forward way too fast for him to react and tapped his forehead with her finger. Byakuya swatted her hand away with a scowl, which she returned with an incredulous look. "Helloooo? Nagito and Teruteru, obvs!"

The musician was really getting on his nerves. Hoping to get her to shut up, he answered, "Of course. Teruteru wasn't injured at all and Mikan said that Nagito would make a full recovery."

She scrunched up her brows at that answer. "Huh? But that's not what Ibuki was asking. What does being okay have to do with being alive? Well, apart from the whole being alive thing being a requirement for the rest and stuff…"

"What?"

She confused him even further when she suddenly started laughing. "You know what? You should totally make music with Teruteru!"

Byakuya crossed his arms, pondering where that suggestion had come from. He idly wondered if trying to understand her wasn't just a futile mission. "Why would I do that?" he asked nevertheless.

"'Cause you might start to understand each other better. You can get to know a person pretty well if you make music together!" She nodded enthusiastically, looking like she had just solved the mystery of the universe. "Maybe you wouldn't mess up like yesterday, if you tried."

"I did not mess up!" he felt the need to defend his dignity. So what if his first attempt at consoling someone had backfired a little? The rest of the night had gone perfectly smoothly.

"Ha! So, your pride has built a wall so strong that I can't get through. You totally did, though! Making someone cry? C'mon, that's a big no-no." Despite her words, Ibuki still seemed perfectly cheerful.

"Are you adopting the rabbit's speech patterns now?" Byakuya asked grouchily.

Her eyes went wide and she started to pat herself down frantically. "Oh no! Am I?! AHHH! It can't be! I don't want to turn into someone as boring and mellow as Monomi! These bright colors don't even suit Ibuki!" With a cry of "Help!" she latched onto his arm.

"Let go!" He tried shaking her off, but she was holding him in a vice grip he wouldn't have expected from her.

"What are you two doing?"

They both turned around to the owner of the voice and it got Ibuki to thankfully let go of his arm. "Mahiru! Emergency! Am I turning pink?!" the musician asked urgently.

Mahiru and Hiyoko, who had come with her, eyed her curiously and not just a little confused. "Uh… no? You're… not pinker than usual, I guess?" Mahiru finally answered.

That seemed to satisfy Ibuki. She relaxed with a long exhale. "Phew. I swear I could almost feel myself lose all of my character traits."

"I don't think you need to be afraid of that," Byakuya told her. If anything, that would probably be a blessing.

Hiyoko rolled her eyes, tugging at Mahiru's arm. "Well, we don't have time for the airhead and Mr. Ham Hands. Come on." And she attempted to drag the photographer over to her cottage.

"Airhead?" Ibuki repeated, mostly to herself. "I've always wondered why we say that. Wouldn't airguitarhead sound so much cooler?"

"And where are you going?" Byakuya asked before they could leave.

Mahiru didn't look at him. "Nowhere in particular."

Hiyoko on the other hand had no qualms telling them. "Mahiru is going to take a shower with me!" she declared.

"Oh, that sounds nice. Have fun!" Ibuki said.

Byakuya frowned. They were going to shower _now_? "You can do that later, after Nagito's interrogation."

"What? Why?" Hiyoko stomped her feet on the ground and looked at him defiantly. "What gives you the right to boss us around?!"

"I am your leader!" he reminded them, a little peeved at the question.

"Leader or not, it doesn't mean that you can act like we're all your servants," Mahiru stood up to him. "Besides," she took a step closer, "what do you mean with an interrogation? If you're just going to hurt his feelings like you did with Teruteru, you should leave the talking to someone else. Men like you should be ashamed of themselves. You don't think other people might have feelings too?"

This again? What, did they expect him to baby people, just because they couldn't handle criticism? Even Makoto was more mature than that. "I will say what is necessary to get my point across. There is no need to sugar-coat reality, especially if it could give someone a wrong idea." Byakuya returned her look firmly, none of them stepping down.

She put her hands on her hips, her eyebrows knit together. "It's not about sugar-coating. It's about not acting like an asshole."

Byakuya sneered. "Oh, so you're calling me out, but _she_ gets a pass?" he said, with a nod towards Hiyoko.

"What did _I_ do?!" The short girl bristled.

"That's completely different," Mahiru said. "Don't drag her into this."

"Oh, is it different because she's a girl?" he asked with a sardonic smile. Because there really wasn't any other difference. If anything, he at least had a reason for acting like he did. Hiyoko butted heads with everyone just for her amusement, it seemed. Not that he personally cared about petty insults like these, but Mahiru had to be blind not to see that.

Despite that, the photographer crossed her arms. "No, it's not."

Byakuya answered with a snort.

She looked like she wanted to say something else, then thought better of it and shook her head. "Look, if we're going to wait here anyway, we might as well just do something productive in that time. So, if you'll excuse us."

This time, it was Mahiru who dragged Hiyoko along to the girls' cottages. Hiyoko turned around one last time to stick her tongue out to him, before she fell into step with her. Byakuya, still scowling, called after them, "You better make it quick!"

The door slammed shut behind them with a loud bang.

Turning back around, he mumbled to himself, "Just why are they showering together in the first place?"

"Maybe they're moving on to the next stage!" Ibuki said.

He shot her a deadpan look, but she just winked back at him and held her fingers up in a victory sign. Byakuya fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I don't even want to know."

For some reason, that made Ibuki giggle and, using her index and middle finger still forming a V, she scooped up one of the last two pieces of cucumber on her plate. Byakuya watched her with disdain. Did she think her fingers were chopsticks, or what? Completely unacceptable.

To save the last piece from the same undignified fate, he quickly snatched it from the plate and, ignoring her protests, shoved it into his mouth.


	9. Alien Mind

Reply to Nutifry: Thank you for reviewing! It gave me the motivation to finally post this. :)

 **Chapter 9: Alien Mind**

Mikan finished breakfast a little earlier than the other students, probably due to her sense of duty. She looked tired out and a little disheveled but still alert. Her early arrival suited Byakuya just fine. He had her do a quick check-up on Nagito to confirm that he was responsive and well enough for being questioned, so there was nothing that would delay the matter any further. She then nervously asked if she could take a look at his arm and change both his and Nagito's bandages, but by that time, Gundham was already leading the rest of the students from the hotel to the cottages like an ominous shepherd, so he told her she could do that later.

Not everyone was present. Mahiru and Hiyoko still hadn't returned. Fuyuhiko didn't show up for breakfast in the first place, which was not all that surprising. And according to Gundham, Akane refused to stop eating and stayed behind. At least that's what Byakuya got from his cryptic message.

Originally, Byakuya had been planning to take everyone, but by now, he had gotten fed up with the students. If they didn't care to show up, it was their choice. If they were four people short, it didn't matter all that much. He raised his voice to call for order and the students fell quiet, so he led them into Nagito's cottage.

The Ultimate Lucky Student watched them enter his abode with a polite smile on his face. He was lying in bed with his head propped up on a pillow. "Excuse my inability to welcome you properly," he said in an apologetic tone. "I'm afraid I'm not allowed to get up yet."

Mikan nodded her head quickly. "If h-he did, he might reopen his wounds."

"That won't be a problem, we are just going to talk," Byakuya said. Nagito certainly looked better, compared to his state last night. His face had regained some color and apart from the dark bags under his eyes, he wasn't visibly affected by his injury. Being in the care of the Ultimate Nurse could have had something to do with it. In any case, it meant that Byakuya had no reason to hold back with his questions.

"Now, let's get started with this. I wanted to ask you about what happened yesterday. We already spoke to Teruteru last night and he told us that you were the one who planned a murder first and that he was just reacting to it. Is that true?"

"Yes, that is true," Nagito admitted easily.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed and he took note of the wave of unease that rippled through the other students at those words. "How long have you been planning it?"

"Well… I knew I was going to try something since the day before yesterday, but I only planned the murder while I was cleaning the old building. I mean, I couldn't have known that there would be a party, not to mention where it would be," he explained. His tone of voice was calm and factual, as if he was just explaining something completely natural.

"And yet you had already prepared a drawing to determine who would be on cleaning duty. I'll have to assume that you were the one sending me the message then."

"Ah, yes. I thought that would be kind of obvious," Nagito said, looking a little embarrassed. "After all, who else would have a hand writing that painful to look at?"

So, that wasn't on purpose to hide his identity? He _actually_ wrote like that? Byakuya was disgusted at this news. Nevertheless, it seemed like he had played right into Nagito's hands when he had announced that they would hold a party. "So, you rigged the drawing to get the opportunity of setting the whole thing up."

It wasn't supposed to be a serious question, but Nagito's eyes widened and he quickly held up his hands, bending his arms a little awkwardly due to his position. "Even I wouldn't stoop that low. There was no need to cheat. I just relied on my luck."

"Your… luck?" Was this guy for real?

"Yes. At the time, you guys said that I was unlucky for drawing the short stick, but that was actually exactly what I was hoping for."

Byakuya could hardly believe what he was hearing. He left his whole plan up to chance? To a literal 1 in 15 chance that it would work? That guy would make a better clairvoyant than Yasuhiro! In a way, it reminded him of Makoto's talent. Well, naturally, with both being lucky students. But the way it worked seemed similar as well. Makoto had a habit of drawing the shortest straw, so to speak, but often enough it turned out to be good luck in the end. Was this the same? Byakuya had always found the notion of Hope's Peak Academy researching something as whimsical and unpredictable as luck to be silly, but maybe they really had been on to something. But even if there was some pattern behind it, at least Makoto wasn't insane enough to blindly rely on this. Nagito, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any common sense. He apparently didn't even consider the possibility that he _wouldn't_ lose the drawing.

Right as he was thinking that, there was a hesitant knock on the door. With a raised eyebrow he turned around. "Come in," he commanded loudly.

The door opened slowly and revealed an uncomfortable looking Mahiru, and Hiyoko pouting behind her. When they stepped in, Mahiru was looking at the ground, her right hand clutching her other arm.

"So, you deigned us with your presence after all," Byakuya said scathingly. "I was wondering if you had completely forgotten about the importance of this talk."

Mahiru at least had the decency to blush at that. "I'm sorry we're late."

Hiyoko on the other hand just put her hands on her hips and flippantly said, "So what if we forgot the time a little? Like it never happened to you."

"It didn't," Byakuya said. How could she insinuate that he would abandon his duties like that? Did she not realize who he was? "Not everyone can afford such a lackluster approach to life."

"You don't have to be mean about it!"

"Well, at least you smell better now," Kazuichi commented.

Byakuya perked up. Smell?

"That's none of your business!" snapped a red-faced Hiyoko. "It's not like you smell any better, you greasy slimeball!"

"Hey! Motor oil smells nice, okay?! Besides, I wash myself regularly!"

… Were they seriously implying what he thought they were? Had Hiyoko neglected her personal hygiene for so long that she started to smell? Was that why she had taken a shower just now? Come to think of it, he _had_ noticed a weird, unpleasant smell the other day that had reminded him weirdly of Toko, but he hadn't been able to put it. If that had been Hiyoko, that would make a lot of sense. Why was it always the most obnoxious girls who, on top of their insufferable personalities, also refused to take showers?

"From now on, there will be a new rule," Byakuya interrupted their argument. "Everyone is to take regular showers. No exception."

"That's-!" Hiyoko was speechless, but only for a moment. Red as a beet, she said, "That's a private issue!"

"It isn't if the smell is starting to affect other people," he replied coldly.

"Just keep your nose to yourself then, you creep!" Angry tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.

Before the conversation could into turn a full-blown argument, Mahiru stepped to her side and, casting Byakuya a withering glare, placed a hand on the small girl's shoulder. Well, she certainly recovered fast from her remorse. In contrast to her facial expression, her voice was soft when she spoke, "Come on, Hiyoko, don't cry. I'll help you with your kimono from now on, alright?"

Hiyoko sniffled, hugging Mahiru's arm and burying her face in it. "Thank you, Mahiru! You're the best!" The photographer was clearly a bit uncomfortable, but she petted her head anyway.

Byakuya turned away from them, rolling his eyes. Imbeciles. All of them.

Now that that was out of the way… "Back to topic."

Nagito looked back at him compliantly, a pleasant smile on his face. Why was he still acting like he had nothing to fear? Like he hadn't even done anything wrong? Didn't he have the least bit of self-awareness? Byakuya scowled at the thought. "Tell us exactly what happened yesterday, from your point of view."

And he did. Without any kind of hesitation, he told them exactly what he had planned, which steps he had taken for it and how it played out. It all matched what Teruteru had told them the night before and what Byakuya had already pierced together by himself. At some points, he filled in some of the missing information, like how he had caused the blackout in the first place. (Byakuya had to admit that he hadn't even noticed the irons when he discovered the secret passage. He figured that Akane or Gundham must have unplugged them while they were waiting for him. It would probably be a good idea to check up on that later regardless.)

"Why did you do it?" He had gotten the facts now, but one thing remained a mystery. "What was your motivation? And what made you continue after Teruteru already discovered you? Didn't you take into account that he might try to stop you?"

Nagito smiled widely. "I'd gladly die in the name of hope."

There it was again. Hope. Byakuya felt himself tense up in apprehension.

The lucky student continued excitedly, "In fact, if he _had_ killed me, it would have made the case a lot more complicated. I wonder if he had been careful enough not to leave any evidence behind. Just think about it! The lights would come back on and you would find me dead with a knife in my hand. Wouldn't that be a mystery worthy of being solved by the ultimates?"

"In other words, you just wanted us all to die?" Peko asked him neutrally, without a hint of anger in her voice.

"Of course not!" Nagito vehemently denied. He seemed shocked at the mere suggestion. "I never wanted you all dead! I wanted to create a challenge for you to reach your true potential. Of course, it's questionable if a challenge posed by someone like me would truly be enough, but maybe my death could have been a stepping stone for one of you to think of a better one."

What kind of logic was that? "You wanted to challenge us by causing a murder? And you did this in the name of hope? Did I get that correctly?" Byakuya summarized, still half-expecting this to be some sort of joke.

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Nagito looked at him with a delighted smile.

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Sonia said what they were all thinking. "What about any of this is hopeful?"

Nagito's gaze swung over to her. His smile dimmed a little. "Isn't that obvious?" He waited for a moment, but when nobody answered, he sighed and explained, "By overcoming obstacles, you become stronger, right? The bigger the obstacle, the stronger you are in the end. It's the same with hope. You can't start off hopeful, if you've never seen despair. Despair is necessary for hope to be born. And what could be more despair-inducing than the death of a friend?"

The students stared at him. "That's seriously messed up, dude!" Kazuichi finally said, holding his head. "I don't even know what to say!"

"Overcoming obstacles is something to be admired," Nekomaru agreed reluctantly, "but you can't compare that to witnessing the violent death of a comrade. Those are two entirely different things."

"They're not just different, they are polar opposites!" Hiyoko added. "You'd have to be a complete psychopath to think like that!"

Many of the others joined in with similar remarks.

Well, as extreme as Nagito's logic was, Byakuya could see where he was coming from. If you didn't have something bad happen to you, you didn't have much of a reason to hope for a change. If you lived your entire life in peace and happiness, isolated from the cruelty of the real world, you would never have to work hard to achieve something. You wouldn't know the need to keep a positive outlook. And you would certainly not be able to withstand the despair that came if your bubble of peace were to burst one day. Challenges were important for personal growth. However, Nagito had taken that logic and twisted it into something entirely ridiculous and over the top.

Meanwhile, the discussion was getting a little out of hand.

"That's enough!" he cut in. When they kept chattering, he raised his voice. "Will you be quiet? I would like to keep things civil."

They reluctantly stopped talking. Except for Kazuichi, who couldn't hold back one last comment. "Tell that to the guy who tried to murder one of us."

Byakuya didn't react to that remark and instead addressed Nagito. "If your plan was to give us hope, you are going at it the wrong way. The situation is already bad enough. Adding murder to our confinement won't help build hope, quite the contrary," he stated. "Witnessing death doesn't inspire hope in people, it makes them despair. They can overcome it via strength of mind, but it takes time and doesn't necessarily mean it won't cause trauma or other negative consequences."

Nagito looked back at him confused. "But I wasn't talking about regular people. I was talking about you guys! Ultimates! You are different from worthless people who never accomplish anything in their lives. You are stronger. You can overcome this and give birth to the greatest hope humanity has ever seen! I know you can!"

This was… alarming, to say the least. Yes, ultimates _were_ superior to your regular peasant, but that didn't make them superhuman. They were chosen for their individual talents, not their strength of character. "I assure you, even ultimate students have their limits and they can fall into despair if pushed too far. Murder is nothing to be taken lightly." His previous killing game was more than evident of this. Take Mondo or Kiyotaka for instance. Both of them had lost themselves at least partially when they felt like there was no hope left. Even the survivors had been on the brink of despair due to Junko's influence. If Makoto hadn't been there, they would have given up right then and there. Hope didn't just come naturally from despair.

However, Nagito didn't seem to understand that, as he shook his head, smiling. "You probably don't realize your true potential for hope just yet. It's okay, we can work on this together. I want you guys to succeed, after all. What's a little despair if it helps you let your hope shine even brighter?"

He attempted to sit up as he spoke, but Mikan rushed to his bedside to hold down his shoulders. "Please, y-you mustn't sit u-up!"

"Listen to her if you want to get better," Byakuya instructed him.

Nagito looked around at each of them individually, then he sighed, his body falling back on the bed again and his gaze focusing on Hajime. "It seems like you don't agree with me. That's a shame. I had thought at least Hajime would understand me. I always felt we were like-minded in a way."

Hajime, who hadn't said anything until now, startled and took half a step back. "I'm nothing like you!" he said quickly, nearly stumbling over his words.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put myself on the same level as you, of course." Nagito gave a little self-deprecating chuckle. "I mean, it's obvious that I could never reach that state… But don't you understand? I only want you to become the absolute best you can be!" He started addressing the whole group again. "Think of how much hope you could bring to the world! That's why dying to help you achieve this state would be an honor! And if anyone wants my help with this, I'll gladly lend a hand. We can devise a perfect plan and I'll help you kill me. If the victim is in on it, the possibility to create a truly complex mystery is even greater!"

What on earth kind of suggestion was that?!

"No way any one of us would do that!" Ibuki protested, horrified.

"Ah, yes. I understand." Nagito looked down on his blanket with a sad smile on his face. "It's only natural that you wouldn't even consider accepting my help, after I have displayed my incompetence that openly. I am ashamed of myself. I know that I am not worthy, but I would like nothing more than to be useful to you regardless. I would do anything just to become a stepping stone for your-"

"That's quite enough," Byakuya interrupted, finally growing impatient with his ridiculous thoughts. He thought he saw something akin to disdain flash across Nagito's face when his head swiveled around to blink owlishly at Byakuya, but it was gone and replaced by a pleasant smile so quickly that he had to wonder if he hadn't just imagined it.

He turned to look at the other students and registered with relief that nobody looked interested in his proposal in the slightest. Nevertheless, he said, "I hope that nobody here actually considers taking him up on this offer. Murdering someone, even with another person's help, is a messy affair. You won't be able to pull it off without leaving some evidence behind. All you would be able to accomplish is getting yourself executed. Therefore, in your own interest, don't even think about it."

He looked back at Nagito. "Not that you'll get the opportunity to ask him for help."

The lucky student tilted his head to the side curiously. Seeing him like this, Nagito looked completely ordinary, which was probably one of the most problematic aspects to the whole situation. It was easy to forget just how dangerous he could be. He wasn't an obvious "everyone can see it" kind of crazy that Genocide Jill displayed but more of an "amiable on the outside with delusional ideals and no moral restrictions" kind of crazy. He didn't stand out. He pretended to have low self-esteem to appear harmless. None of them had thought much of him before the previous night rolled around. And if that in itself wasn't worrying enough, it seemed like he was quite the successful manipulator as well, if Teruteru's actions were any indications. He was smart, no doubt about that. He knew how to shape other people's behaviors without them realizing it.

Byakuya pushed up his glasses by their frame. There was no shred of doubt in his mind that Nagito posed the single biggest threat on this island. Byakuya couldn't allow him to bait anyone else into unknowingly doing his bidding. Which was exactly why… "Nagito, and Teruteru as well, will not be allowed to leave their cottages from now on. I will keep their keys on my person at all times. I will personally take care of providing them with food and other necessities for as long as the situation requires it. And no one else is to talk to either of them alone. If anyone has business with them, they need my consent and I will observe their interactions. But if you don't have a good reason, I won't allow any contact. Do you understand?"

He looked around at their faces, seeing some of them nod here and there. For the most part, they seemed relieved that he was taking the responsibility for the troublemakers. Others looked a little uncomfortable. And some didn't look like they cared at all.

It seemed that nobody had anything to say to this, so he soon ushered them out of the cottage, locked it from the outside and took the key as the rest of the students dispersed. Well, all of them, save for Mikan.

"Uhm, B-B-Byakuya, I-" she spoke up nervously.

He interrupted her before she took a solid five minutes to finish her sentence. "Of course, I realize that you will have to continue your treatment on Nagito." Didn't he just say he wouldn't let them in unless they had a good reason? Making sure that someone didn't die surely counted as a good reason to everyone with half a brain.

She nodded quickly, stuttering an "O-o-okay…" and lowering her head in an attempt to appear smaller.

Stepping around her and collecting Teruteru's key next, he sighed. Now he had to play babysitter for these two, on top of keeping everyone else in check. He really needed some way to spread the workload over multiple people, or else he would be left with not a single moment of peace.

* * *

 **A/N:** Kinda long author's note to inform you about future of this story/to vent a little. Sorry 'bout that. Feel free to leave now if you don't care.

 **TL;DR:** Updates will come very irregularly. Even if it takes months, this story is not abandoned, unless I explicitly say it is.

So, I _could have_ posted this chapter back in February. Since the start of this year, I kept up a regular update schedule. However, during that time I grew terribly fed up with this fic. I was stressing myself out and it was taking up too much of my time. I don't post a chapter before going over it multiple times to make corrections, but I really didn't feel like doing that for this chapter. It felt like the sense of accomplishment I got from posting was too little for so much effort. Furthermore, from the amount of feedback I got, I had the impression that only a very small number of people is interested in this fic. Which I don't mind, but at the same time it made me feel like the schedule is pointless. I'd like to apologize to the handful of people who _are_ reading this story, especially to the ones who wrote reviews. I'm very grateful and I don't mean to punish you. But writing is just a hobby to me and the way it was going, I wasn't having any fun with it. So, I decided I wouldn't post this chapter until I was feeling enthusiastic about making corrections again. (Besides, I pretty much didn't have any free time for half of March, so there was that.)

Don't worry, I _will_ continue the story; it really grew on me. Besides, a good 80% of the plot is already planned out in detail, so I know where it's supposed to go. But! I'll write and update at my own pace. This story is going to be sooo much longer than I am comfortable with and if I'm honest with myself, I don't know if I'll ever get around to finish it. (Obviously, that's not something I wish to happen, but at this rate, it's going to take a few years and I can't really plan for anything that might prevent me from continuing in the future.) Keep in mind that this was supposed to be just a oneshot. If I had known that it would end up becoming a longfic, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have posted it. Oh well, it is what it is now.

I still feel like I've bitten of more than I can chew with this, but I've decided not to worry about it too much and work on it whenever I'm comfortable to do so. Knowing me, updates might come frequently for a while, followed by a hiatus of one or two months, before the cycle repeats. I'm sorry if you don't like that, but any other way just doesn't work for me. If that's a reason for you to stop reading, it can't be helped. At least you were warned pretty early on. This fic had an erratic update history from the start and I doubt that's ever going to change. One thing I can say for sure, though, is that I won't abandon this fic with no notice. It definitely won't happen any time soon, but _if_ I do realize at some point in the distant future that I can't continue this story for any reason, I _will_ let you know (and probably post all of my notes so you'll at least have the option to find out how it was supposed to end).

That being said, I hope you can enjoy the story anyway. (And I promise future chapters won't have long notes like these.)


	10. Wouldn't It Be Great If This Island Had

Okay, first off, thank you guys for your kind words, I really appreciate it! Since I can't reply to the anonymous reviewers any other way, I'll just do it here again:

-Reader: That means a lot to me, I really don't know what to say. I truly hope I can meet your expectations! Also, you like Byakuya being stuck with a bunch of crazy eccentrics? Have fun with the new chapter then. ;)

-Nutrify: Monokuma's still gonna take another in-story day to make a reappearance… which I'd say takes at least 4 more chapters? This story is moving sooo slowly. There's so much good stuff I wanna get to but there's just too much other stuff that has to happen before. It's a real struggle.

Thanks to my beta reader, who suggested that I should rewrite half a scene, it's an extra-long chapter this time. Hope you like it.

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Wouldn't It Be Great If This Island Had a Hospital?**

By the time Byakuya realized that Mikan was still following him, he had already gone back to the hotel's kitchen to prepare two more plates with food – plain white rice would be good enough for those two. He turned around to the nurse, who stood a way back, fidgeting nervously.

"What is it?" he asked.

She made an "Eeep" sound as she flinched at being addressed. Immediately, she looked down at her intertwining fingers. "I-I-I was just… I mean y-your…" She shut her eyes tightly and quickly said in a single breath, "I would like to take a look at your arm!" Then, almost startling herself with her own request, she opened her eyes wide, adding, "I-if that's o-okay, of course!"

Seriously, what had he done to make her that nervous? "Right, you did say you wanted to do that." He looked at the rice cooker to estimate how long it would take to finish. He figured there was enough time for her to change his bandages in the meantime. "You can do that right now while we wait. Accompany me to the cottages afterwards to patch up Nagito when he gets his food."

"O-okay!" She quickly nodded and took off to get her supplies. She was back in record time and got to work. She finished fixing the new gauze in place almost at the same time the rice was done cooking. The fresh bandage was very welcome and made his arm feel better already.

Byakuya prepared the two plates, piling a bit more on Nagito's plate than on Teruteru's. He figured this was a good time as any to try and make the lucky student look less malnourished.

During the preparations, he considered letting the nurse carry one of the plates, since the strain from carrying it might be a bit too much for his injured right arm. However, he quickly remembered her tendency to trip over thin air and decided against it. "Mikan, I want you to go to the old cottage and check the storage room. Make sure that the irons Nagito prepared there are unplugged. Once you're done, come and meet me at the cottages." He would have to make the trip twice and sending her off on this errand would mean he could bring Teruteru his food first and then come back to get Nagito's.

She nodded hesitantly. "Alright." Clutching the first-aid kit to her chest, she left the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Byakuya made his way over to the cottages, plate in one hand, an empty glass in the other. He could manage that much with his injured arm. If they both had a glass in their cottage, they could just fill it up with tab water whenever they were thirsty and he wouldn't have to waste more time than necessary to bring them something else to drink. He struggled a bit with opening the door, but eventually managed it. Teruteru was sitting on his bed, not looking up from the ground as he entered.

"I brought your breakfast," he said.

Teruteru didn't move. The "thank you" he mumbled sounded hollow.

Byakuya rolled his eyes and set the plate down on his nightstand. He then proceeded to explain to the cook his decision to put them under house arrest and that they were not to see anyone without his permission.

Again, Teruteru barely reacted. He just shifted his weight a little on the bed and said a small, "Okay."

Shaking his head, Byakuya walked out to make his way back to the kitchen to get the second plate, but not without locking the cottage behind him. If Teruteru wanted to sulk, that was his decision.

When he returned, Mikan was already waiting for him by Nagito's door. "So?" he asked her.

"T-they were all unplugged," she quickly said in response.

"Good." He nodded and held out the plate for her. "Hold this."

For a second, he feared she would drop the plate after all, as she struggled taking it, but she ended up keeping it firmly in her grasp. Just to be safe, he took it back immediately after opening the door.

Nagito was smiling at them when they entered. "Oh, you bring me food? I feel honored that-"

"Quiet," Byakuya cut him off and handed him the plate. "Don't mistake this for anything but a bare necessity. I can't have you starving to death."

Mikan placed her first aid kit down and then hovered uncertainly at the boy's bedside. "Uhm… sh-should I wait for you t-to finish eating?"

"Oh, no, that won't be necessary. I wouldn't want you to waste more time than necessary on a failure like me. I can eat this later," Nagito quickly assured her, setting his plate aside and looking at her expectantly.

"Uh… I… r-right…" She obviously didn't know how to react to that, so she got to work without another word.

While Mikan went about taking care of Nagito's wound, Byakuya used the time to fill the glass with water in the adjacent bathroom. Nagito wouldn't be able to get up, so he couldn't do it himself. Maybe it would be better to get him a pot later, so he could pour himself a glass of water whenever he needed without assistance. Byakuya was already fed up with how much legwork the two troublemakers became.

Once he came back and placed the glass next to the plate where the lucky student could reach it from the bed, Byakuya stood off to the side to watch the proceedings. The wound didn't look quite as nasty as he would have imagined. The skin around it had started to bruise a little, but since the wound itself was rather small in diameter, it didn't look as serious, especially since it had been cleaned up. His stitched-up arm actually looked worse in comparison.

Once Mikan was done and finished packing up her supplies, he expected her to leave with him, but to his surprise, she kept lingering when he walked to the door. Turning around, he saw her fidgeting nervously.

"I-I… uhm… I was w-wondering if I could s-speak to him alone for a few minutes?" She dared to take a look at his face, but she immediately dropped her gaze when she saw Byakuya scowling.

"Didn't I say earlier that I wouldn't allow anyone to talk to Nagito or Teruteru without supervision?" The gears in his mind already began turning and he wondered what she was planning.

"I… Y-yes, but-!"

"If you have anything else to say to him, you can do it now, but I will not leave the room."

She looked like she would cave, but she surprised him again when she kept arguing. "B-But I can't d-discuss p-patient information in front of a third person. It's c-confidential."

Patient information? What, was there something wrong with his wound? "If there is a problem, I would demand to know about it anyway. Speak. I will not change my mind about this."

Mikan looked like she was about to burst into tears, her hands interlocked in a white-knuckled grip. Taking a shaky breath, she turned around to Nagito and squeezed her eyes shut as she bowed deeply. "I-I'm extremely s-s-sorry about this, but I need to ask you if you received p-previous treatment for your condition or i-if you need to take medication regularly!" she squeaked out.

Byakuya's eyebrows rose. Condition?

Nagito blinked once, looking surprised, then he chuckled. "Oh, so you've noticed."

"I saw that y-your lymph nodes are swollen and i-it seems like you've lost a lot of weight lately," she stammered out. Then, she quickly added, "O-of course, I-I can't make a proper diagnosis just based on that, but-"

"You are sick?" Byakuya asked sternly "And you didn't tell anyone?"

Mikan snapped back up and looked at him in horror.

Nagito just smiled at him. "There is no need to worry. It's not contagious." Then, his smile dropped a little and with a sigh he turned his head to address Mikan, "It's okay, I don't mind him knowing. I was diagnosed with stage 3 malignant lymphoma and frontotemporal dementia right before I was accepted into Hope's Peak Academy."

The nurse gasped, while Byakuya asked incredulously, "You have cancer _and_ dementia?!"

"I got started on chemotherapy and a number of different pills as soon as I got the diagnosis."

Mikan tugged at a strand of her hair in distress. "Lymphoma is treatable, even at stage 3, b-b-but we don't have a way to continue your treatment here on the island."

Byakuya's facial expression hardened. "Is that why you tried to kill someone? You felt like you had to get off this island to receive further medical help?"

Nagito cocked his head to the side as if he didn't quite understand what he was saying. "No, that's not it. I told you already that I wanted to see your hope shine."

That only served to anger him. He raised his voice as he said, "Don't give me that nonsense! Why would-"

"P-please stop! Shouting at him won't help!"

He stared at Mikan, momentarily speechless from her outburst. She blushed and ducked her head under his gaze.

"I-I'm sorry," she lamented quickly, "but he's a patient a-and I… I…" She trailed off.

Byakuya huffed, looking over at Nagito whose curious eyes were now trained on Mikan. Byakuya couldn't imagine that these illnesses didn't play any role in his behavior from last night. He just couldn't figure out whether he did it because he wanted to get off this island to get treatment or because he felt like he was going to die anyway and didn't value his own life anymore. Maybe a combination of both? Was his whole spiel about hope and despair just an act? But then, why did it sound so eerily similar to what Junko had believed in?

He sighed. He would have to figure out what exactly was going on with Nagito in further conversations. "For now, it seems there is nothing else you can do here. Mikan, I need to talk to you outside."

Mikan looked back and forth between them for a moment, visibly torn between her desire to care for her patient and acknowledging that she really couldn't help him right now. In the end, she hung her head and nodded, following him outside.

Byakuya locked the door, then he asked her seriously, "How would this affect him? Does he have any physical restrictions? Is he going to have memory loss or something?"

The nurse looked back at the cottage door sadly. "He shouldn't be too impaired physically. I-I mean, his body is still fully operational, but he is generally weakened, e-especially considering lymphoma is often accompanied by sudden weight loss and fever. A-as for his mental capabilities, frontotemporal dementia mostly affects the s-social skills and the ability to speak. In the early stages, it usually leads to a change in the patient's behavior. He could become a-aggressive or tactless or act irrationally… In later stages, he might have trouble finding words or even lose the ability to speak entirely. H-he _could_ get problems with his memories later, but those symptoms wouldn't be as strong as in other forms of dementia like Alzheimer's," she explained.

Irrational and aggressive behavior? Well, if his actions yesterday weren't irrational, Byakuya didn't know what else they would have been. He sighed soundlessly. Just great. So, it was entirely possible that his weird behavior originated from some stupid disease. "Is there anything you can do to relieve the symptoms?"

Hearing that question, Mikan hung her head. "I don't think so. L-like I s-said, lymphoma is treatable, but there is no known cure for frontotemporal dementia. And even if there was, w-we don't have access to it on this island." She suddenly started wailing, "P-please forgive me! I'm u-useless!"

Hmph. Perfect. That was exactly what they needed on top of their other worries. "We _will_ get off this island. It's only a matter of time," he told her firmly. There was no doubt about that in his mind. "In the meantime, we don't have any other choice but to keep an eye on him. For now, continue treating his stab wound and just make sure he doesn't die."

There wasn't anything else they _could_ do. He could only hope that there wouldn't be any complications with Nagito's conditions. Who knew what might happen if he ended up dying because of it? Maybe Monokuma would blame Mikan for not saving his life. The idea was ridiculous, but he wouldn't put it past the bear.

Mikan nodded and responded with a timid "Okay…"

"You can approach me whenever you feel you need to do a check-up, but try to keep it to the minimum."

"Y-yes," she said, lowering her gaze to the ground.

Well, at least that was cleared up for now. "If you'll excuse me, I have some other things to do," he said, already turning to leave.

He heard her replying with an "O-of course!" and left the hotel area without another look. He hadn't meant for this to take that long. Who could have known that Nagito would cause even more trouble, just by existing? They would have all been better off if he had died from his illness before he had come to this island… Well, it was no use contemplating what could have been.

There was another thing he wanted to do as soon as possible. Last night, he had made up his mind to get some people involved in his attempt to keep the others alive. There weren't many students he would trust with a job like this. Most of them hadn't shown much potential and responsibility yet. However, if he was going to appoint helpers, Hajime and Sonia seemed to be the most reliable candidates for now. Or at the very least they seemed less likely to cause trouble themselves. If he could get those two to keep an eye open for unusual activities or conflict, it would help him spread the workload.

There were also Mahiru, Chiaki, Mikan and Kazuichi who could potentially be helpful in other ways, since he didn't expect them to actively work against him and they also didn't seem to be too insane to work with, but he wasn't sure if they were really up to the task at hand. Chiaki didn't seem reliable in any way, while Mikan and Kazuichi both weren't assertive and forceful enough to step in, should any issues arise. Well, Mikan was already good to have as a nurse, so she didn't actually need any extra tasks on top of that. As for Mahiru, Byakuya wasn't quite sure if she wouldn't end up causing trouble in some way with her stubbornness and that bossy nature of hers, if only unintentionally.

Well, he would see if he could find a use for those other three in time. For now, he would settle for two people.

Unfortunately, he didn't get far in his search. As he left the hotel and considered where either of them was most likely to be, he was alerted by a female battle cry and loud noises coming from the beach. Immediately, Byakuya took off as fast as his legs would carry him and arrived at the beach in a matter of seconds.

Long before he had reached them, he spotted the cause of the disturbance. Akane and Nekomaru were engaged in a fierce battle, the two of them trading blows without hesitation and with no regard for either person's safety. He also noticed Gundham and Hiyoko standing some ways off, looking unconcerned with the fight. Byakuya scowled.

"Knock it off!" he shouted as soon as he was within hearing range.

The combatants ignored him. Akane just continued swinging her leg in a high kick to Nekomaru's face, which he deflected with his forearm with seemingly no effort at all. He retaliated quickly by swiping out her other leg from under her. However, instead of falling to the ground, she twisted her body backwards in the air, caught herself with her hands in the sand and tried to hit him with her feet as she flipped back in a wide arch. Nekomaru narrowly avoided the attack and settled back in a defensive stance right as she landed back on her feet and charged again with a primal scream to punch him in the stomach this time.

"Stop fighting immediately! I won't repeat myself!" Byakuya yelled again, as he came to a stop just far enough so he wouldn't be hit by a stray limb.

Akane still didn't acknowledge him, but Nekomaru thankfully took note and caught her fist in his hands. He grunted from the impact but stood his ground. "Akane, wait. Byakuya wants to speak to us."

"Can't that wait? We're kind of in the middle of something here," she said through gritted teeth, rather breathlessly, as she struggled to free her hand from his grasp.

"No, it can't!" Byakuya cut in, "What on earth are you thinking? What reason do you have to start a fight like that?"

She turned her head to look at him in confusion, which made him see the blood trickling down the side of her face. "Do you need a reason to fight?" she asked, genuinely curious. Seeing as she relaxed a bit, Nekomaru let go of her hand, so Akane, still straining against his grip, stumbled a few steps back.

"Yes, you do!" Byakuya bristled. "In case you've already forgotten, we are in a killing game! You don't just start a fight unless you want people to think you're trying to kill them!"

"Aw, don't be so dramatic. No one's killing anyone. We were just sparring," she argued with a shrug that turned into her rolling her shoulders to work out some kinks.

"You call this sparring?" Byakuya asked, pointing at her head. "You sustained an injury already and you still didn't stop! What if one of you had gotten killed on accident?"

"Huh?" She raised her hand to pat her head. When she touched the side of her head where her injury was hidden under her mop of hair, she winced a little and brought her hand in front of her face to look at it in confusion as she saw the blood on her fingers. Then she grinned brightly. "Psh, this is nothing to worry about. I didn't even notice when I got it. I've had worse before."

This girl was impossible. Not a single working brain cell in her head. It really wasn't surprising, given that she must have taken a lot of blows to the head in the past to be this careless about a head injury. "You still don't understand the gravity of your situation? Do you want to get executed this badly?"

She raised an eyebrow at that, but he already moved on and rounded on Nekomaru. "And you! Aren't you supposed to be a coach? I thought you were responsible for training people, not getting into a brawl with them!"

At least Nekomaru had the self-awareness to look slightly guilty. "We did get a bit carried away," he admitted. Still, he argued, "However, a fight _is_ good training for reflexes, strength, flexibility, …" He trailed off when he saw Byakuya's scorching look directed at him and cleared his throat. "Well, but you're right, we were too reckless about it. It won't happen again."

"Hey, what are you talking about? How am I supposed to beat you when you hold back? C'mon, I didn't have an opponent this strong in a while!"

Nekomaru shook his head. "Just because we won't be engaging in an all-out fight doesn't mean I can't train you. I see a lot of potential in you, but you are wasting a lot of it by focusing on raw strength rather than technique." His tone became chiding. "You've got the talent of the Ultimate Gymnast, yet I barely see you making any use of it. You've got a lot to learn until you can call yourself a master of your discipline."

Akane looked down with an unhappy frown, twisting the tip of her shoe in the sand. "Yeah, whatever."

Byakuya rolled his eyes. How nice the world must seem for someone with such a simple mind. Without commenting on her behavior, he turned around. "Don't think I forgot about you two either," he addressed Hiyoko and Gundham, who were still keeping their distance, even though Hiyoko had apparently been curious enough to come a few steps closer.

"What are you talking about? Maybe you should get your glasses checked if your eyesight is that bad. I didn't do anything!" the short girl replied indignantly.

"Exactly! Why didn't you try to stop them?"

"And get myself killed in the process?" she asked with a derisive grin. "No thanks. Unlike you, I actually value my life."

Byakuya forced himself to breathe out slowly through his nose, then he asked Gundham, "What's your excuse?"

The breeder looked off to the side over the ocean. "Great forces clash at times. Such is the nature of the universe," he said darkly.

"Unacceptable!" Byakuya snapped. He registered in satisfaction that Hiyoko flinched a little. "Just so we are clear, if you see a fight happening, I expect you to help break it up before anything worse happens! Otherwise I _will_ hold you accountable!"

"Well, what do you expect me to do? Throw myself between them?" Hiyoko asked sarcastically.

"No, but I expect you to at least _try_ to talk some sense into them!" God, these students were giving him a headache. "I am aware that you wouldn't be able to physically restrain anyone, but you could at least do everything you would be able to do. And where do you think you're going?!" He asked without missing a beat as he heard footsteps crunching in the sand behind him. Turning, he saw that it was Akane who tried to wander away.

"Huh? We're done here, right? I was gonna go grab a bite to eat," she answered matter-of-factly, looking unaware of what she did wrong.

"You will not. Nekomaru will accompany you back to the hotel. If you're lucky, Mikan might still be there. You need to get that wound checked immediately. No detour to the restaurant. Are we clear?" he stressed.

"Oh, come on. All I need is some meat in my belly and I'll be fine." She emphasized her claim by patting her stomach.

"You will go and see Mikan! No food until you received treatment!" He could just hope that she would follow his instructions. He neither had the time nor the drive to make sure she actually did as she was told. He would have to rely on Nekomaru for that.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something. Would it be alright if someone else went with her?" the coach threw in at that point.

So much for that plan. Well, it wasn't like there was a single responsible person present, so there was really no reason to prefer one over the other. "Fine. In that case-"

"Not me! I'm not crazy enough to go along with that. What if she's got even more brain damage now and attacks me on the way? Gundham can go, nobody would be sad if he died anyway," Hiyoko interrupted him.

"Hah!" Gundham exclaimed with a confident grin, as Hiyoko already stomped off. "I have faced demonic beasts and creatures much fiercer and more dangerous in the past! I will not step down nor perish from a task like this. It is barely a challenge for the Overlord of Ice!"

…Why did he have to deal with this? Wouldn't it just be easier for him if they killed each other off?

" _Fine!_ " Byakuya exclaimed in exasperation. "Then Gundham accompanies her to see Mikan. I'm relying on you, so make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble. Please." There, he'd done it. He stooped low enough to say 'please.' That's how desperate they had made him. If they still managed to screw that up, he would probably end up screaming.

He waited for them to leave, watching them with narrowed eyes until they disappeared down the road, before he faced Nekomaru. Taking a deep breath to brace himself for what was to come from this, he asked, "What is it you wanted to speak to me about?" Oh, how he hoped it wasn't another problem he had to solve. This was only their fourth day on this island, yet it seemed like everything kept getting worse with every passing second. He needed a break to recover his sanity.

"Well, I already spoke about it with Hajime last night and we both agreed that we should build a stronger bond in the group," Nekomaru explained.

One of Byakuya's eyebrows rose. "A bond?"

Nekomaru nodded. "Yes," he elaborated, "I believe it would help our situation if we could establish some sort of team spirit. We need to think of us as a unit instead of as individuals who happen to be in the same situation. It's the same with sports teams. One player alone can't win the game, but if everyone is united under the same goal where they all complement each other and work together, they can succeed."

Byakuya's first instinctual reaction was to dismiss the idea as idiotic. However, he was aware that this was just due to his own upbringing. When you were alone, competing against all of your siblings, the lone wolf approach was suitable. This situation was different. He needed to take that into account, so he forced himself to actually think about it.

Back at the start of the first killing game, he had regarded them all as single competitors striving to win the game. He had even encouraged them to distrust one another, because that had been what seemed the most logical thing to do. Because he had seen it as a competition. This time, that wasn't what it was. He wanted the students to survive instead of engaging in stupidly killing each other. He needed a different approach from the first time, if he wanted to accomplish that.

Granted, he didn't have much experience with this, but he could recall how they had been able to escape the first killing game. Sakura's suicide had been the first incident that made them feel a little more like a group, but it hadn't been enough. They had still doubted each other and ended up voting for a wrong blackened after falling for the mastermind's tricks. But once they had started working towards the same goal, they had been able to corner the mastermind and win the game in an entirely unconventional way. He wouldn't exactly call it trust, but they _had_ ended up seeing each other as one group standing against Monokuma and his puppeteer. So, he guessed there had been some connection they had built their resolve upon, if only due to the fact that they were in the same boat.

Building a bond among the students right from the start actually sounded like it would be a good idea when he thought about it like that. Such good advice coming from Nekomaru of all people was a bit unexpected, though Byakuya probably shouldn't be too surprised. As a team manager, he would obviously have experienced the effects group mentality could have on people's morale first-hand. If anyone knew best what it meant to be a team, it would be him.

Maybe he wouldn't be as useless as Byakuya had thought only seconds ago. Granted, it had seemed that Akane had started the earlier fight and Nekomaru had just failed to put a stop to it. That didn't mean that the coach was any better in his book. Byakuya didn't know nearly enough about him to be able to judge him properly. But at least he seemed to be a bit more open to communication. And if he came up with suggestions like this, he might be able to help figure out group-related problems, as long as he didn't get involved in any physical arguments.

He nodded approvingly, after mulling the issue over in his head. "This sounds like it would be helpful in our current situation. Do you have any suggestions on how to accomplish this?"

Nekomaru gave him a huge grin that took up at least half of his face. "I knew you would understand. You really are a fitting leader."

Well, he already knew that, but it was nice knowing that the commoners were able to see it, too.

"One of the most important things to do would be to initiate positive and reinforcing group activities. It can be as simple as eating together or keeping a regular exercise routine. I'd actually recommend both. After all, keeping your body healthy and working up a sweat is a good way to deal with stress!" He laughed, which kind of made Byakuya's ears ring. Why did his voice have to be so damn loud, anyway?

But eating together, huh? Well, he'd never participated in them, but his own classmates used to have these weird breakfast meetings, right? Maybe they could establish the same thing on this island. Working out on the other hand… he would have to consider it. Keeping them all in line was enough of a workout in his mind. Besides, he didn't see how doing exercises would help them becoming a group.

"In that case, I will make attendance at breakfast mandatory, starting tomorrow," he told the coach, nodding to himself.

"That's good!" Nekomaru beamed. "It would also encourage conversations among us, which is important for our mental and emotional stability."

Mental and emotional stability? What? Byakuya frowned. "What do you mean by that? Could you elaborate?"

Nekomaru furrowed his brow and reached up to scratch his neck. "Well, you know… being trapped on this island and this whole killing game ordeal is sure to put everyone under a lot of stress. It's important to share your emotional baggage in situations like this, or you might not be able to handle it, right? I mean, look what happened to Teruteru." He sighed with closed eyes, looking pained somehow. "I'm sure he's not a bad person, but he must have been terribly desperate to escape in order to do what he did. And no one knew he was feeling that way, because he bottled it all up. After all, we don't know each other. Of course, he wouldn't have been comfortable talking with us about this sensitive stuff. Do you know what I mean?"

Well… he started to see where the coach was coming from. He nodded slowly, pushing up his glasses when they slipped a little. "I see. There might be more students hiding their true feelings, and if they reach an emotional breaking point, it could end in disaster." He hadn't even thought of that. What a pain. Why did humans have to be so complicated?

"Yes, but if they interact more and get closer to each other, they might just become friends in no time. And once they feel comfortable enough to talk about their fears, they'll probably open up to their new friends."

Was that how it worked? Byakuya hadn't felt this way, not even towards the other survivors of his first killing game. He would go so far as to call them friends, but that didn't mean he had the desire to talk to them about anything. Then again, he didn't have a load of teen angst bottled up inside of him that he would need to talk about. Apparently, it was different for people with mundane problems.

In that case, just one meeting a day might not be enough. His own classmates had been meeting for breakfast regularly, but it hadn't prevented any murders among them. Well, they had become friends eventually, which also meant that the murders stopped, but it had taken them too long to reach that point. Was there anything else he could mandate now that would cause them to spend more time together?

"It might be a good idea to make sure we all stay together as long as we are in this killing game. It would drastically reduce the chances of another murder happening and it would lead to people spending their time together, so they can become friendly with each other," Byakuya eventually suggested.

Nekomaru frowned a little at that. "Another murder? Nobody killed anyone."

Tch. Slip of the tongue. "Yet," he countered.

The coach shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea regardless."

"Oh?" One of his eyebrows rose as he crossed his arms. "And why would that be?"

"It might just put them under more stress," Nekomaru explained calmly. "I understand your reasoning, but if they feel forced to interact, it would just strain their relationships. Besides, they might not be comfortable spending so much time together. Everyone needs a break at some point. If they can't retreat when they feel overwhelmed, they might start associating their negative emotions with the group. People need their privacy and their free will."

That… sounded plausible. As much as he wished for a simple way to keep tabs on everyone, he couldn't possibly justify it against a reasoning like that.

… Well, spending all day with all these nutcases would have been exhausting to no end anyway.

"Fine," he conceded, still a little reluctantly. "I shall think of something else."


	11. Adjusting the Focus

Hey guys, I'd like to thank everyone who left a review, favorite or follow to this story! You are all very much appreciated and it always brightens my day to see people enjoying my work. :)

Also, this chapter was a pain to write. For some reason, I'm really struggling to write Hajime, which is kinda ironic considering how much time we spend with him in the game. I've also been told that I didn't get Mahiru quite right in earlier chapters and yeah, she's another one of the more difficult to write characters for me. Sorry if they're a bit off. I tried my best. Hopefully I'll get more of a feel for those two over time.

So yeah, it's another Hajime chapter. There will be some more POV characters over the course of the story, 7 in total, but I'm not telling who the other 5 are yet.

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Adjusting the Focus**

Before the questioning this morning, Hajime had come up with a bunch of different theories about Nagito's behavior. That he was misunderstood and just tried to defend himself. That he was selfish, desperate, afraid, or… well, he had even mentally prepared himself to find out that the guy was just plain evil. But no. It was neither of those. Nagito was actually just batshit insane and Hajime was officially a terrible judge of character. Well, at least he could rule that out as his possible talent, he thought cynically. No Ultimate Intuitive Person for him.

He sighed. What a terrible morning. It certainly didn't manage to lift his spirits after the disaster that was yesterday's party. At least Teruteru's motive was a bit more understandable. That didn't justify his actions either, but worrying about his ill mother was something most people would be able to relate to.

It made him wonder about his own family. He hadn't given them too much thought before, if he was honest with himself. He had been a bit preoccupied with his own side of the problem – getting kidnapped and thrown into this dangerous situation wasn't exactly something you could just not worry about. But his parents would be affected by this as well. Did they even know that he was gone?

Okay, that was a stupid question. An entire class of students had been abducted from the most prestigious school of the entire country. It was only logical that they would have been informed about the situation. They were probably worried sick about him. He wished he could see them to let them know he was alright.

Not enough to murder someone, of course. He wasn't in any imminent danger and his parents had been fine when he'd last seen them, so there was no reason for any drastic measures. He did have to wonder, though. If he had been in Teruteru's place, knowing that his mother was very ill and waiting for him to come home, would he have been strong enough to wait patiently for a solution that may or may not present itself sooner or later… or would he have done the same?

"Hey!" He turned around when he heard someone call out. He had been walking aimlessly around and somehow ended up on the central island near Jabberwock Park. When he looked who was behind him, he saw Mahiru coming towards him, looking stern. "What are you doing?"

"Huh? I… uh… nothing. I was just…" For some reason, he suddenly felt guilty about his previous thoughts, even though they hadn't really meant anything.

"Jeez, never mind. Let me rephrase the question. What's got you so down?" She put her hands on her hips.

"What? I'm not…"

"Come on, you're not exactly subtle about it. You look like a puppy that got scolded and kicked out of the house."

That… was clearly an exaggeration. He didn't look _that_ bad. Hajime shook his head. "You make it sound worse than it is, really. I'm fine. It's just… well, this morning was a bit rough, don't you think?"

Mahiru started tapping on her hip with one finger. "Even if it was, being depressed about it all day won't help anyone. Besides, everything turned out okay, right? Things could have gone very wrong, but they didn't. The issue has been resolved for now and everyone's still alive. And we should keep it that way. That's what's most important here, so don't forget that."

Well, she did have a point. In the end, things could have been a lot worse. They had to lock away two people, but that didn't mean things couldn't get better from here on out. After all, Byakuya himself promised to take care of them and he seemed competent enough to succeed. Maybe he was just overly dramatic about this. Besides, those thought experiments did nothing but make him feel insecure about himself. "Yeah… you're right."

She gave him a tight smile. "Exactly. Now, stop being pathetic and cheer up a bit. You're not the only one who's affected by this. We all have to deal with the situation, so man up and don't make it harder for the rest of us. Besides, I can't possibly take your picture if you look so grumpy."

At first, that last statement surprised him. Then, the thought of her trying to use that excuse to get him to smile actually made him laugh. Faster than he could react, she had raised her camera and snapped a picture.

"Wha- Hey! I didn't think you were serious about that!"

Mahiru laughed. "Of course I was. You need to capture the cheerful moments, especially when people feel a bit down. They serve as a reminder that there were happy moments too," she said, more seriously again. She shrugged. "Yeah, things might not be peachy, but as long as you can still smile, it can't be too terrible either."

Oh. He hadn't thought about it this way. "That's true…"

Mahiru nodded. "See?" Looking down at the camera, her features softened. "It's a good picture," she said. Then, she appeared to be a bit flustered as she quickly added, "I mean, the silly face you're making is really funny."

"Hey, don't take pictures like that," he said, a little self-consciously. "Can't you delete that one and retake it? I won't make a silly face this time."

She quickly put the camera away and wagged her finger at him. "No way. I never erase a photo once I take it. That's my policy. Besides, photos that were taken in the middle of a moment are much more meaningful than the ones people pose for. Those are staged and barely capture the essence of the person's character. Photos are like external memories. You don't just delete a memory to replace it with one that makes you look better."

"I guess…" Hajime reluctantly agreed with her. He still kind of wished she wouldn't take weird pictures of him.

"Don't worry, I plan on taking pictures of everyone, not just you," she assured him. "I want to keep a record of our life on this island. Well, specifically the good times we had."

"That's a pretty nice goal," he said, genuinely impressed. "You've got to show me your photos later."

She blushed a little. "I barely even took any yet… But fine, once I've got enough to really paint a complete picture, I will."

"Okay, I'm looking forward to it."

They reached some sort of strange pause in the conversation where neither of them seemed quite sure of what to say next. Finally, Hajime cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "So… I guess I'll go to the park for a bit. Would you like to come with me?"

Without quite looking at him, Mahiru shrugged. "I don't really have anything else to do, so sure. Only for a little while."

They started walking in silence, before Hajime asked her a bit more about her photography and learned that it was her mother who inspired Mahiru to take this path. She seemed to be at ease talking about this subject, so the conversation became more lighthearted. He was about to answer when they entered the park and Mahiru held up her hand for him to stop.

Confused, he came to a halt and looked at her. Mahiru's eyes were trained on a spot further into the park and with an amused smile, she pointed her finger to indicate the reason why she wanted him to be quiet.

He followed her line of sight and saw what she meant. He shook his head in disbelief. Chiaki was leaning against a tree, fast asleep. Trust her to sleep anywhere.

On her toes, Mahiru crept a little closer until she was satisfied with the distance and snapped another photo. Hajime joined her quietly, whispering, "Isn't it rude to take a picture of someone who is asleep?"

Mahiru shrugged half apologetically. "But she looks so happy."

He looked back at the gamer and he had to agree. She did look quite peaceful with her legs drawn to her chest and her head resting on her knees, the hint of a smile on her face. She had to be quite relaxed to be able to sleep like that in a place like this.

"Should we go somewhere else?" Hajime asked, feeling suddenly uncomfortable when he realized he was watching a girl sleep. Because that wasn't creepy at all.

Mahiru bit her lower lip as she looked at him and back at Chiaki. Eventually, she shook her head. "No, I think we should wake her up… Look, I'm not trying to be pessimistic here, but we're still in a killing game. Besides, there's this bear running around. It just doesn't feel entirely safe to leave her here alone, you know what I mean?"

Oh. "Yeah, of course." They had to come back to this topic eventually, hadn't they? Hajime kind of wished they hadn't. It was bad enough having that threat loom over him the entire time.

Having made up her mind, Mahiru went over to Chiaki, squatted down before her and started to gently shake her awake. Chiaki opened her eyes blearily, blinked a few times and let out a huge yawn. When she spotted Mahiru next to her, she lifted her head from her knees.

"Good morning," she greeted, still with a sleepy expression.

"It's almost noon," Hajime commented dryly as he came closer.

Chiaki blinked at him slowly. "Oh, is it?" She stretched herself before she slowly stood up, dusting off her skirt. "Why did you wake me?"

Mahiru seemed unsure how to answer that, so Hajime filled in with a, "We weren't comfortable letting you sleep outside. Why didn't you go to your cottage instead?"

Chiaki rubbed at her eyes. "I was too tired to walk back." Then, as if just remembering made her tired all over again, she yawned once more.

"Well, even if you're tired, you really should go back next time. Monokuma could appear at any moment. It's not exactly safe outside," Hajime echoed Mahiru's words from before.

That made Chiaki smile. "It's nice of you two to worry about me. I'll try to go to my room next time."

"Try?" he muttered under his breath, as Mahiru made a disapproving sound.

"You shouldn't sleep leaning against a tree anyway. You'll have back problems before you know it," she said.

"Okay." From Chiaki's tone, it wasn't clear whether she was accepting the advice or just didn't feel like talking about it anymore. She looked between the two. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, we were just walking around," Hajime said. "Mahiru told me a bit about her photography."

Mahiru looked a bit shy as she raised her camera a little. "I took a photo while you were asleep. I hope you don't mind."

Chiaki then nodded, with a knowing smile on her face. "Of course not. I remember having to replay the Beach Course in Pokémon Snap to get a picture of a Snorlax, because the professor wouldn't accept any photos of it when it was asleep. Only the ones that showed it awake. If I had to criticize the game, this would be one of the reasons. I always preferred it when it was asleep. Being awake doesn't fit its character."

"Pokémon Snap?" the photographer asked. From her slightly lost expression, Hajime could see that she was just as clueless as he was.

"Yeah. Do you know the game?" Chiaki suddenly looked more alert. As Mahiru shook her head, a portion of the excitement fell off her again, but she explained it anyway. "It's all about taking pictures of Pokémon in different environments. You could also throw certain items to trigger actions or evolutions, or you could wake them up with the Poké Flute in order to get them to do some fun poses. I'm sure you would like it."

Mahiru smiled. "That does sound like a nice game."

"Right? It's too bad they never made a sequel." Chiaki's sigh was full of regret. "They released a bunch of games that contain a camera function since then, like Beyond Good and Evil, but it was never quite the same. If you ever get around to it, you should definitely try it out. It's old, but still a lot of fun."

The other girl looked a bit overwhelmed. "Uh, okay… I'll give it a try if I ever get the chance."

Chiaki nodded, apparently satisfied with the response. Then she stretched again, her joints popping as she did.

"See? That's why you shouldn't sleep outside," Hajime reminded her.

"But it's so peaceful," she said. "And the fresh air made me tired."

He really couldn't argue with that. It really was peaceful. If they hadn't been forced to participate in a killing game, this island would have been a nice place to spend a vacation. Surely Mahiru would be able to take some great photos here with these impressive surroundings. Okay, maybe not at Jabberwock Park. He looked over to the huge bomb-shaped countdown in Monokuma's tasteless design. That thing kind of ruined the mood.

"What do you think it counts down to?" Mahiru asked, and he saw that she had followed his gaze. The timer showed 18 days, 18 hours and 26 minutes.

Hajime shrugged. "We can't possibly know, can we? It could mean all kinds of things."

Chiaki pulled up her hoodie and tightened the strings. "If this was a video game, it would most likely explode when it reaches zero."

"Don't say things like that," Mahiru reprimanded her. "We need to think positively. It could just count down to the end of the killing game and once it hits zero, we're going to be able to leave."

It wasn't impossible, he wasn't going to deny that. But considering it was Monokuma who put it there, Hajime didn't think this was going to be the answer. He couldn't imagine the bear planting a huge countdown in the park if it didn't serve a more sinister purpose. However, he wasn't going to ruin the mood by bringing that up.

He shook his head and said, "We have no way of knowing anyway. Come on, let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" Chiaki asked, side-eyeing him.

"Like, what are you going to do once we get out of here?" he said after thinking about it for a moment.

"That's obvious, I'm going to go see if my father is doing okay. That man is so helpless sometimes," Mahiru said with a frown.

Hajime smiled. Of course, it wasn't just him or Teruteru. They were all worried about their families. It was only natural. "He's probably worried about you too. I'd want to see my parents as soon as possible as well. Tell them I'm alright." He turned to the gamer. "What about you, Chiaki?"

She shrugged. "The same, I think. I also wish I could check if the new games that were released lately are any good."

Hajime shook his head incredulously. Her fixation on video games seemed a bit excessive at times. Still, it had to be nice to be so passionate about something. Everyone just had their one hobby or passion that was on their mind almost constantly. Except for him. No matter what he thought of, he didn't really feel as excited about it as he imagined he should be if it was his talent. He really wished he would figure it out already, but he quickly banned the thought from his mind. This wasn't the time to think about it. They were supposed to focus on the positives.

They ended up sitting down in the shade of the trees together and chatted about this and that until Byakuya entered the park. The second he saw the group, he strode over to them purposefully. "There you are," he said when he was close enough, his eyes trained on Hajime. "I was looking for you."

Automatically, he sat up straighter. "Why? Did something happen?"

To his relief, Byakuya shook his head and he felt some of the sudden tension fall off him at the gesture. "No, I just wanted to talk to you about something." Byakuya let his gaze sweep over Mahiru and Chiaki. "Since you're here too, I might as well inform you that all future breakfast meetings will be mandatory. We will meet between 7 and 8 a.m. in the hotel's restaurant. Try not to be too late."

The girls exchanged a curious look but nodded to show they were okay with that. With a sigh, Chiaki leaned her head back against the tree. "That means we have to get up early every day."

"You shouldn't be sleeping all day anyway. You're going to miss out on life," Hajime told her.

The gamer pouted.

Without reacting to their comments, Byakuya then asked, "Would any one of you know where Sonia is?"

They all shook their heads and Mahiru said, "I don't think either of us has seen her since we split up earlier."

Byakuya clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Fine. We shall look for her then. Hajime, follow me."

With that, he already turned around and walked away. Hajime needed a second to process the command, before he scrambled to his feet. "Wh-wait!" With a look at the girls, he said quickly, "Sorry, looks like I have to go."

Chiaki smiled and waved at him. "We'll see each other later."

"He really should learn to be more considerate of others. Don't let him boss you around too much," Mahiru just said with a roll of her eyes.

Hajime caught up to Byakuya, who walked at a surprisingly fast pace, in a light jog just in time for them to leave the park together. "I've already checked the beach before coming here and I doubt that she was at the hotel when I left," Byakuya said, as Hajime fell into step beside him. "We should continue our search at the airport and the supermarket."

Hajime nodded. "Alright." Then a frown found its way on his face when he imagined the island's layout in his head. "Huh? Did you skip the ranch?"

Byakuya glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "There was an emergency at the beach that required my immediate attention."

"An emergency?" That didn't sound good.

"I'll tell you when we've found Sonia. I would prefer it if I didn't have to repeat myself."

"Oh, okay." He couldn't help wondering what might have happened, but it appeared that Byakuya had already resolved the issue. He could wait for the explanation.

They didn't find anyone at the airport, but at the Rocketpunch Market, they stumbled across the princess, who was trying to politely escape Kazuichi without much success.

She perked up hopefully when Byakuya called out to her. "Yes?"

"I want to speak with you. Kazuichi, you need to leave."

"No way! I was here first!" Kazuichi immediately protested. "Why are you butting in anyway? Can't you see that I'm talking with Miss Sonia right now?"

"I can't tell you how little I care," Byakuya said dismissively. "If you could hurry up, I don't want to be here all day."

It was quite apparent that the mechanic's resolve shrank a bit, but he seemed unwilling to let it go yet. "I can stay here if I want to," he said. His determination grew a little stronger when he added, "Besides, Hajime's here too. Why can he stay?"

"Because I explicitly told him to partake in this conversation."

Unfortunately, that seemed to have been the wrong thing to say. "What? That's super shady! Two guys cornering a lady? Like hell I'll leave!"

Yeah, they really weren't getting anywhere, were they? Even Byakuya seemed to accept that, as he heaved an exasperated sigh and said, "Fine. The supermarket is probably not the best place to talk anyway. You can stay here; we will take this to the airport."

That was a good point. The other students were far more likely to come to the supermarket to grab something than they were to randomly hang out at the airport.

"If you're going, I'm going too!"

Thankfully, Sonia herself now tried to convince him and it had more of an impact on him than anything Byakuya had said. "Kazuichi, would you please let us leave alone? I am sure that Byakuya has something important to discuss with us."

Upon hearing that, Kazuichi visibly gave up, his shoulders slumping. "Well… okay… but I'll stay close by and if they try anything funny, you just need to call for me and I'll rescue you!"

"Uhm… what exactly do you think we're going to do?" Hajime asked, not sure whether he wanted to know or not.

He didn't get an answer either way, as Byakuya said, "As long as you're staying out of this, I don't care if you're slinking around the area. Also, be sure to come to breakfast from now on."

"Uh… huh?" That last comment threw the mechanic off somewhat and they could leave without further discussion.

"What is it you wanted to speak to us about?" Sonia asked, rather seriously, after they arrived at the airport.

Byakuya looked between them. "I got the impression that the two of you are quite reliable. Am I correct?"

Hajime blinked. What? Where had Byakuya gotten _that_ idea from? Was it because he had stopped Nagito from stabbing him yesterday? But that had been an instinctual reaction. Anyone would have done the same…

Sonia on the other hand nodded. "Of course."

"Good. I have a very important job to assign you. You will-"

"Hey, uh, wait a second. I don't know about that…" Hajime interjected. He didn't even know where Byakuya was going with this. What if he wasn't good enough for whatever he was supposed to do? If it was that important, wouldn't it make more sense to ask someone else? Sonia was obviously suited for the job, but why would he choose someone who didn't even know his talent?

"Hajime! Straighten up and stop hesitating! You need to have more confidence in yourself!" Sonia cut him off with a sharp hand gesture. Her tone was so commanding and authoritative that he found himself comply almost automatically. His mouth snapped shut and he squared his shoulders before he could think about it.

At his stunned look, her stern expression turned into a friendly one. "There is no need to doubt yourself. I agree with Byakuya's judgement of your character. I, too, see you as a reliable person. Therefore, you should believe in yourself as well."

He could feel his cheeks become hot and he stumbled over his words. "Alright, sorry. Uh, I mean thank you."

"Well?" Byakuya asked. It felt like he was trying to scan him with his eyes.

Mustering up his confidence, Hajime said, "Okay. I'll do my best."

Byakuya nodded once, approvingly. "That's what I would expect you to do anyway. I wanted to assign you two as my assistants."

"Assistants?" That was something he hadn't exactly expected.

"Yes," Byakuya confirmed, "Since we cannot stay together in a single group at all times, I cannot keep my eyes on everyone at the same time. Especially when I need to take care of Nagito and Teruteru. And this morning showed that there are more troublemakers that could use monitoring."

"What happened?" Hajime asked, his curiosity finally reaching a peak.

"Akane and Nekomaru got into a fight at the beach." At their shocked faces, he elaborated, "They both said it was only a sparring match, but they didn't show any restraint and could have easily inflicted serious injuries on each other and on bystanders. In fact, Akane did get injured and I had to send her off to see Mikan."

"That is troubling," Sonia said.

"She is not the only one. Fuyuhiko has made it very clear that he has no intention to cooperate with us. Hiyoko provokes people left and right. Gundham is unpredictable and potentially dangerous-"

"I'm sure he doesn't have any ill intent. I got to spend some time with him yesterday before the party and I got the impression that he was really a good person," Sonia said.

Byakuya regarded her thoughtfully. "That would be desirable. Nevertheless, it would be a good idea to make sure."

The princess tipped her head forward just so slightly. "Of course."

"So, you just want us to keep our eyes open for any trouble?" Hajime asked.

"That would be the gist of it, yes. There are too many students running around unsupervised. If a problem arises, I want you to step in and resolve it or at the very least get me involved. You will report to me directly at the end of each day. If necessary, I might ask your help with other tasks and errands. That shouldn't exceed your abilities, or am I wrong?" Byakuya asked that while giving him an expectant look. His piercing gaze made Hajime a bit uncomfortable.

"No, that's fine," he said.

Sonia nodded enthusiastically. "You can count on us!" Her voice was so full of conviction that there was no room for further doubt. Hajime felt a smile creep on his face as her confidence spread to him.

"Good. If you ever feel like the problem is more than you can handle alone, I want you to tell me immediately." Byakuya hesitated for a moment, then he added, "Even if you are unsure whether your observations are truly indicative of trouble or not. If you see someone behaving a little strangely, even if their actions might seem mundane and not worth reporting – do it anyway. I want to know everything that's going on around here. It's better to be safe than sorry. In order to protect you properly, I need as much insight into everything as possible. Understood?"

They both assured him that they would do just that. Hajime had never doubted Byakuya's leadership qualities but seeing the thorough measures he took to keep them all safe felt reassuring. And if he could contribute anything, he would do his best to support him. He still didn't know why Byakuya asked him of all people, but Hajime was sure that he had his reasons.

"You've already heard about it, but attendance at breakfast is going to be mandatory from now on," Byakuya continued, "which leads to the first task I have for you." He faced the princess directly. "Sonia, I want you to go to the hotel and check up on Akane. I sent her to go there with Gundham, so that she could get treatment. Make sure she actually did and that her wound is taken care of. And while you're at it, both Akane and Gundham, as well as Mikan need to be informed about the new breakfast rule. I want you to handle this."

"Alright. You can leave it to me!"

Byakuya nodded in satisfaction, then turned his head to look at Hajime. "I would like to leave Peko to you. Tell her about the arrangement. Also, could I ask you to engage her in conversation for a while, if possible?"

That last bit surprised him. "You want me to spend time with her? Why?"

"She hasn't really been involved with anyone until now, has she? She seems rather elusive. I would like to get an idea of what you think of her. I haven't been able to judge her character properly yet," Byakuya explained.

"Do you… do you think she might hurt someone?" he asked, carefully. Personally, he couldn't imagine it. Peko seemed so calm, like nothing could make her lose her composure. Then again, he had completely misjudged Nagito as well.

"I don't know about that, which is why I would like to get a better picture and your opinion on her. She is the Ultimate Swordswoman. That means she would be able to easily commit murder, if she wanted to." When Byakuya saw Hajime's hesitation, he added, "It's just a precaution."

Well, it couldn't hurt. He wasn't going to go around suspecting her of planning a murder or anything. He could just spend some time with her to get to know her better. That was all Byakuya asked him to do anyway, right? He nodded slowly. "Sure, that won't be a problem."

"Excellent. The rest will be informed by me, you don't have to concern yourself with that. Meet me in my cottage, about twenty minutes before the nighttime announcement, to report back to me."

What a weird turn of events, Hajime thought to himself as they went their separate ways and he left to look for Peko. He certainly hadn't expected to be asked to take such an active role in Byakuya's plans, but he would be lying if he said it didn't feel good to be considered helpful. He did feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea of spying on Peko… in a way? It wasn't exactly spying, but… Oh well, it would be fine. Byakuya being a little extra-cautious wasn't exactly a bad thing. It just showed that he took his job seriously. And Hajime would have wanted to spend time with her at some point anyway. That's what classmates did, after all. Just because Byakuya asked him to do it now and to tell him about it afterwards didn't mean he couldn't just interact with her normally.

Besides, he was a little curious to find out more about her. She seemed like an interesting person after all. He found he kind of looked forward to this.

* * *

 **A/N:** Since I'm a sucker for short previews, I decided to give you guys a teaser for the next chapter in the form of a single line of dialogue:

"Do you know who Junko Enoshima is?"


	12. Planting Seeds

**Chapter 12: Planting Seeds**

"What the fuck do you want?!"

Byakuya's scowl deepened. He must have been ringing the doorbell for at least ten minutes straight before finally it was wrenched open violently, so he felt like Fuyuhiko really didn't have any right to be furious. If anything, the yakuza should be on his knees, apologizing for wasting his time.

Keeping his tone as even as possible he said, "I want to inform you about a new rule. Everyone must attend breakfast from now on. That includes you. 7 to 8 a.m. Try to be on time."

He would have liked to leave immediately after delivering the message, but he felt like this wouldn't go over half as smoothly as with the other students. And he was right.

"You seriously bother me for this shit? Hell no." The glare Byakuya received was probably supposed to be intimidating, but coupled with the way Fuyuhiko balled his hands into fists at his sides it just made him look like an angry child.

"I wasn't asking for your opinion. It's already been decided."

"By whom? You?" Fuyuhiko scoffed. "Fuck off. It's not an official rule, so you can't make me do anything."

"No, but I can and will be back tomorrow morning and I don't plan on leaving until you come with me. You can do both of us a favor and have breakfast with the rest of us without causing a fuss."

Fuyuhiko laughed and his previous snarl turned into a grin. "Oh, sure, go ahead. See if I care. By the time my patience runs out, your stupid breakfast hour will be over. I really don't fucking care what you guys get up to, but I want nothing to do with it." With that, he took half a step back and slammed to door shut in his face.

Byakuya counted to five. And then to ten. That had gone even worse than he had imagined. The decision to inform Fuyuhiko last had been a deliberate one, since he had already anticipated some form of resistance. But even Hiyoko hadn't thrown more than an insult in his face.

With a frown that felt like it had permanently etched itself into his face, he walked off, thinking about his options. He _would_ pester him for an entire hour every morning, if that meant Fuyuhiko would give in eventually. But with the way things looked right now, it didn't seem like that would be a very time efficient thing to do. Why was every second person on this island so damn stubborn? His own classmates had been quite low-maintenance in comparison. It was too bad that Byakuya only now started to appreciate them.

Still, this was a problem. There had to be a better way. Fuyuhiko was right – just because he told him to be there didn't mean he would come. After all, he himself hadn't attended the breakfast meetings in Hope's Peak either, for exactly the reason Fuyuhiko had stated. It wasn't an official rule. Byakuya's word didn't mean anything if he couldn't enforce the rules.

Unless…

He stopped as he reached the pool, an idea slowly forming in his head. Who said he couldn't turn the very thing causing the problem into the solution? It wouldn't have been possible back in the academy, but here? It was worth a try.

"Monomi! I want to speak to you!" he bellowed. It only took a second for the rabbit to jump out of one of the bushes lining the path.

"I heard you call for me with my large ears and came running as fast as I could! What can I do for you?" the stuffed animal called out animatedly, both ears in an upright position and eyes bright with excitement.

Byakuya smirked. "I could use your help in a certain matter."

Before he could explain what he wanted from her, the rabbit sniffled, bending over to hold her paws over her heart. "Really? You're seriously asking me for help? That makes me so happy!"

He rolled his eyes. "Are you quite done or are you going to refuse me your help after all?"

She perked back up, quickly wiping a tear from her eye. "No, no, I do want to help! Tell me what you need me to do! I won't disappoint you!"

If only she put her enthusiasm to better use. "I need you to add a rule to our handbooks stating that attendance at breakfast will be mandatory."

Monomi took a step away from him, gaping. "Why should I do that? We don't want to restrain you on this island! The students are supposed to enjoy their freedom!"

'We', huh? Byakuya filed that bit of information away for later. "But you also want us to get along with each other, don't you? This is to strengthen our… our bond in the group. Don't you think eating and spending time together would help us become closer?"

"I… uh… yes, that's true…"

"And not following the rule would just lead to setting off an alarm and not to an execution, wouldn't it?"

"Of course! That would be way too cruel! I can't stop Monokuma from enforcing _his_ rules as he sees fit, but I would never enforce any violent punishments for my rules!" A bit more quietly, she added, "Uhm, that doesn't mean you should break those…"

"In that case, there shouldn't be any problem with this arrangement. Most of the students agreed to the new rule anyway. Fuyuhiko is the only one who doesn't want to follow it. And wouldn't you agree that he of all people could use some more interactions with the rest of us?"

"Well…" Monomi tilted her head to the side, tapping it with her paw in thought. "When you say it like that, I can't really disagree."

Byakuya nodded. "I do advise you, however, to add an exception to the rule that excludes students who are physically unable to be there, so there won't be an alarm every time Nagito or Teruteru fail to come to the hotel."

Monomi's ears drooped. "About that… don't you think you should let them out again? I'm sure they're unhappy being imprisoned."

"And I'm sure the other students would be unhappy being dead. They'll stay where they are."

If anything, the rabbit looked even more crushed. She whimpered pathetically. "I don't want anyone to get hurt either, but… I beg you, if they prove to reform themselves, please let them out again! Everyone deserves a second chance!"

"I feel like you're mistaking murder with a petty crime. For the time being, it's safer to keep them locked up. Both for the group's wellbeing as well as for their own sake. Besides, as Nagito is still bedridden, it won't make a difference in his case. Now, what about that rule?" he asked to remind the pesky rabbit why they were having this conversation in the first place.

She was silent for another moment. Byakuya waited. He had made his case; there was nothing more to say.

And, true enough, Monomi finally collected herself with a nod. "Well, alright, I think this could really help you guys. I'll add the rule at once!" she said and raised her paw high.

That had been almost too easy. That battle was over before it had really begun. He watched her bounce away and a second later, there was a familiar _pling_ coming from his student handbook. He didn't bother checking it, but he didn't have to. He knew for certain that it was the new rule when he heard a heartfelt " _Oh, for fuck's sake!_ " coming from the open window of Fuyuhiko's cottage a second later.

Ah. Sweet, sweet victory. He relished in the feeling as he continued on to the hotel in order to eat something first and bring dinner to the two troublemakers afterwards.

Between letting Mikan change Nagito's and his own bandages again and seeking out Hiyoko and Ibuki before trying to deal with Fuyuhiko, he had used the rather uneventful day to think about a few things. Monokuma's words about there being a traitor among them had come back to him and Byakuya had to wonder if he hadn't misinterpreted them when he had first heard them.

At the time, he had assumed the bear was referring to him, since he wasn't technically a member of this class and because he was apparently the only one who hadn't lost his memories. It would set him apart from the other students, so it wasn't too far-fetched that Monokuma would use that to sow distrust among them. Nobody had indicated that they were worried about the alleged traitor yet, but that didn't mean they wouldn't start throwing accusations around at some point in the future.

However, after the events of the last two days, he wasn't so sure anymore. While he wasn't a part of this class, he didn't work against them either. He wasn't secretly in league with Monokuma, as Sakura had been. It was entirely possible that Monokuma hadn't been talking about him.

The reason for this train of thought was Nagito. The more Byakuya thought about what he said, the more unsettled he became. Replace the word 'hope' in his ramblings with 'despair' and you had a speech that may as well have been from Junko. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Byakuya didn't buy it.

Drawing a connection from his skewed perspective on hope to suspecting him of being a traitor allied to Monokuma wasn't much of a stretch. If anything, it was the only logical conclusion one could come to, given the information he currently had. Causing despair for the sake of hope? It didn't get much more apparent than that. The only problem with that was that there was no way to confirm or refute it. He would have to try prying the information from Nagito himself. Would it be smart to accuse him of being the traitor directly? Maybe he would show some reaction if Byakuya just implied it or asked about something related. Or he would just smile that infuriating smile of his and laugh it off.

He contemplated it some more while he brought dinner to Teruteru first. Byakuya's lip curled in disapproval when he saw that he had eaten very little over the course of the entire day. He left him with his new plate and a prompt to eat properly this time. What was the cook trying to achieve? Was he going for some kind of protest by starving himself? If he was, he was sorely mistaken in thinking it would make a difference for his situation.

When he eventually went to bring Nagito his food, he watched out for anything he might say or do that could potentially hint toward him being the traitor. Unfortunately, he didn't behave in any way peculiar. Well, not more than usual. The Ultimate Lucky Student – was that even his real talent or, if he really was the traitor, was it supposed to be an ironic play on Makoto? – was still wearing his mask of pleasant passiveness.

He seemed to be staring a little bit too intently, since Nagito eventually looked up from his plate to meet his gaze, just when he placed the can of water he had brought from the restaurant on his nightstand. "Is there a problem?" Nagito asked amicably.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed as he straightened back up. _You are the problem_ , he wanted to say. Instead, he mulled over his options for another moment, trying to estimate the smartest choice. "I was wondering if you could answer a question for me," he finally said.

Nagito smiled. "Of course."

"Do you know who Junko Enoshima is?"

Byakuya watched him intently, waiting for some sign of recognition. Nagito blinked slowly and raised his hand to tap at his chin in thought. It was impossible to tell whether it was a show or an honest reaction. A second later, Nagito shook his head. "I don't think I've ever heard of her before in my life." He leaned forward with new interest. "Why? _Should_ I know her?"

An uncomfortable silence settled between them as Byakuya continued to stare at him. Then, deciding that this line of questioning probably wasn't going to get him anywhere, he let it go. "No," he said, finally cutting through the suddenly tense air in the room. "It's not important."

Nagito responded with a chuckle. "Now, that's obviously not true. You wouldn't bother asking me about something like this if you didn't think it was important in some way. You expect me to know _something_ about her. I just regret having to let you down. Believe me, I would like nothing more than to give you the answers you are looking for. Maybe if you could give me some more information about her?"

At that, Byakuya almost rolled his eyes. He still didn't buy the act of modesty and frankly, it was annoying. Turning around, he told him, "Just forget about it" and made his way to the door. He was just one step away from it, when Nagito's voice made him pause.

"Is it her?"

When he turned back, he saw that Nagito was staring at him in deep contemplation. All signs of light-hearted friendliness were replaced by an uncharacteristically serious look. It took him a bit off guard. Then he registered the question and furrowed his brow. This conversation could take a number of turns and he had no idea which one it would be.

"Is she what?" Internally, he braced himself for whatever was to come.

Nagito licked his lip and Byakuya suddenly realized that the student's body was tensed like a coiled spring. The hand holding his plate was clenched around its edge. After what was probably only a second but seemed like ages, Nagito almost breathed his answer. "Your hope."

Even though it was barely more than a whisper, the words seemed to echo through the cottage. Seconds ticked by as Byakuya tried to process that. Why… How did he come to _that_ conclusion?! Where on earth had it come from? That was just… He couldn't wrap his head around it.

When Byakuya failed to give him an answer, Nagito's eyes went wide as saucers and he strained to lean closer still, almost knocking the plate off his lap in the process. "Am I right?" he asked eagerly, the words rushing from his mouth.

Byakuya restrained himself not to recoil at the question but he couldn't keep himself from grimacing in disgust. "No!" he said a little more forcefully than intended. Shaking his head, he asked, "Where did you get that idea? No, disregard that. What does that even mean?!"

Nagito let out a long breath, gradually relaxing a bit. "Didn't I tell you before?" he asked, the words coming slowly out of his mouth, thoughtfully. "I saw your hope. Ever since yesterday, you have worn it so confidently, I don't think anything could possibly disrupt it. It shines so brightly; I find it hard to believe that you could get this hopeful without some inciting incident. Something or someone in your past must have ignited it. I just thought it might have been her."

… What kind of explanation was that? That didn't make any sense whatsoever. And even if it did, there was still the question of: "Why would you assume that about _her_ of all people?"

Nagito shrugged in what seemed to be a calculated move, leaning back against his pillow now. While he did that, his lips were pressed together and he took his time before he answered. "Why else would you talk about her with me of all people? I tried to encourage the others to be hopeful like you. I thought it was possible that you might want to talk to me about her, so we could devise a better strategy to spread hope to them."

"That's ridiculous." There was no other way to describe it.

"So, I was wrong? She's not your hope?" From his tone, it was clear that Nagito already knew the answer.

Byakuya snorted at the mere thought. "There's nothing hopeful about Enoshima." He regretted saying that almost instantly. Something in his subconscious mind told him that Nagito wouldn't mix well with her, so if he really was oblivious of her, the less he knew about her the better.

The lucky student looked down, breaking the eye contact that had persisted between them for nearly the entirety of the conversation. His voice was toneless. "In that case, I apologize for making wrong assumptions. I guess I got a bit too excited to find out more about you."

This time, Byakuya really did roll his eyes. "Maybe you should stop making uneducated guesses." It was puzzling, though. His reactions had seemed genuine enough. And his idea had been so far off the mark… Was he really just pretending or did he honestly not know anything about Enoshima? It almost seemed like it was the latter.

Nagito looked back up with an apologetic smile. "Who is your hope then?"

"You're still assuming that there is one?"

Nagito laughed softly. "As I said, I can't imagine your hope hasn't been shaped by an important source."

Technically, Makoto had been the biggest influence on how he handled the killing game this time, so that could be what Nagito was talking about. After all, Makoto had become the Ultimate Hope in the end. It would make sense that Byakuya would have adopted some of his optimism by spending so much time with him. And Makoto sure had been the one to encourage them to reject despair. But still, how did one even go about measuring hope?

No, wait. What if he misinterpreted the question and Nagito implied that Byakuya's hope stemmed from the killing game that Junko had started, making her his hope? With all his talk about despair being necessary for hope to be born or something along those lines, he wouldn't put it past Nagito to see it that way. Could that be the case? Or was he just overthinking things?

Byakuya shook his head. All that wasn't important right now and it wouldn't do him any good to tell Nagito about any of it. This interrogation hadn't gotten him anywhere. He would have to think of a different line of questioning. For now, he decided to take his leave and end the conversation by saying, "Did it ever occur to you that you're not always going to be right about everything?"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned his back on Nagito and finally closed the last distance to the door. He didn't look back before he left the cottage and locked it behind him. Sighing internally, he allowed himself to relax a bit. No more crazy talk for today. He really needed a break from that. Trying to speak to Nagito without having the conversation derail into madness was terribly exhausting.

The rest of the day passed smoothly at least. Sonia and Hajime didn't have anything noteworthy to report back to him either and it seemed that all the problems had been dealt with for now. Of course, he didn't expect it to stay that way. If none of the students caused trouble, Monokuma certainly would. They hadn't heard anything from the bear in a while, which was never a good sign. He just hoped he wouldn't come up with anything too bothersome.

* * *

Makoto slowly trudged through the dimly lit hallway on his way to the bathroom when he was alerted by a shimmer of light in one of the corridors he passed. Frowning, he turned his head, wondering if someone left a light on. After all, it was past midnight and everyone should have been in bed. As he got nearer, he realized that the glimmer poured out from under the door of the central monitor room that was connected to the Neo World Program. The grey hallways of the large administrative building they used for their cause all looked the same, so it was easy to get confused.

He walked over to the door with the intention of just switching the lights off and carrying on his way, already reaching for the handle, when he noticed a muffled voice coming from the inside. No, wait, there were two.

He directed a puzzled stare at the door, wondering who could possibly still be up and about at this time of night. Not wanting to just barge in and interrupt them, he knocked. The voices fell silent instantly and for some reason, he felt like he got caught doing something he shouldn't have.

Then, a moment passed and he clearly heard Kyoko's voice calling out, "Enter."

Oh. Well, he should have known that it would have been her. In their group, she was the most likely to wander around at night. But why was she still here? He opened the door just a crack and peeked in curiously. "Kyoko?" he asked, as his eyes finally fell on her. Then he noticed another figure in the central monitor above the control panel. "And Alter Ego? What are you two doing here?"

"Nothing," Kyoko replied briskly as Alter Ego waved at him hesitantly. "We were just having a little chat. You should go back to bed."

Disregarding what she said, he pushed the door open further so he could sidle into the room. "About what?"

"It's not important. Nothing you need to worry about."

Her face and voice would have seemed impassionate to anyone who didn't know her. But Makoto had gotten to know her pretty well at this point, so he noticed that there was a slight edge to her tone, even if her body language betrayed nothing. There was something she wasn't telling him and it just served to fuel his curiosity. He didn't mean to pry, but what could be important enough that she would seek out Alter Ego in the middle of the night, and at the same time not important enough to tell anyone else about it?

Almost without meaning to, his gaze swept over the various monitors showing different locations of the Jabberwock Island simulation. Every scene was cast in darkness, only dimly illuminated by the pale moon in the sky that would never lose its intensity, even if it waned. It was a precaution they had taken to be able to see what was going on in the simulation in case of an emergency, no matter the time of day.

Since everything was so dark, it took him a moment to notice the one scene sticking out from the others. "Hey, isn't that Byakuya?"

It sure was. One of the monitors showed the image of their friend, sleeping peacefully in his cottage. As he realized that, he frowned. Why would they need to monitor his sleep? Sure, there were cameras in all the cottages, but they weren't commonly used unless Alter Ego alerted them, to respect everyone's privacy. Had he missed something?

Looking between Kyoko and Alter Ego for an answer, he found none, so he asked, "Why are you watching him?"

He didn't mean it as an accusation in any way. He was sure they had a good reason, after all. But as Kyoko opened her mouth to speak, Alter Ego cut her off before she had even managed to say anything, hurriedly telling Makoto, "We weren't doing anything bad; I promise!" while holding up his hands defensively.

Makoto blinked in surprise and Kyoko cast Alter Ego a look that wasn't quite exasperated but it made him shrink back on the screen regardless, as if he had a physical form.

Makoto came a bit closer, his eyes drawn back to the monitor showing Byakuya. Something seemed off about him, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"As I said, and Alter Ego confirmed," Kyoko paused here, probably to look at the AI, but Makoto was too focused on trying to figure out what was different to pay much attention to it, "there is nothing to worry about. I'm sure you're tired. I can tell you about it tomorrow."

Suddenly it hit him. His eyes widened. It was such a small detail that he hadn't noticed it at first. Especially with Byakuya's head lying on his pillow. But at a closer look, he could faintly see a distinct strand sticking up from his usually so meticulously groomed hair. He looked back at Kyoko in astonishment.

"Did you edit his avatar?"

Kyoko sighed, looking away in a display of disinterest. Though Makoto wasn't sure whether her nonchalance wasn't just an act. "I thought it would be fitting, considering he is supposed to take your role. And it won't hurt to emphasize this for him so he won't forget it. Since we are unable to send him a message in any other fashion, this is the only option we have left. Even if I'm not sure how effective it will be."

He awkwardly raised his hand to scratch his cheek. It was true that they had lamented the fact that they couldn't communicate with him directly just this evening, since the Neo World Program wasn't built to allow outside contact in the first place and with the added obstacle of the virus blocking their access on large parts of the code… But Makoto wasn't sure whether editing his avatar in this way was really the best option of sending a message. Not to mention what it was supposed to tell him. "I thought he was quite dedicated to his role already…"

"Dedicated as he might be, he should focus on giving them hope, not reminding them of despair," she countered.

Oh. This was about Byakuya's conversation with Nagito earlier today, wasn't it? Alter Ego had shown them a recording of it after he had deemed it noteworthy to them. Makoto agreed that talking to them about Junko could backfire, considering their history. That didn't mean that Byakuya could have known that in this situation. "Well, blaming this on him is a bit unfair, don't you think?"

Kyoko smoothed back a strand of hair that threatened to fall in her face. "I'm not blaming him. It's unfortunate that we couldn't send him in with all his memories intact. I would just like to try and influence his decisions by reminding him of his priorities."

Priorities he didn't actually remember. How would Byakuya know that he didn't need to figure out why he or the students were there as long as he kept them alive? Makoto hesitated, but then, gathering his courage, he asked, "Are you sure you didn't just do it because you know he'll hate it?"

Turning her head back to him, she gave him a blank stare. "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

"…Right." He cleared his throat and looked away.

"I was also talking to Alter Ego about his progress with the virus," Kyoko thankfully brought up before their chance meeting could start to feel too awkward.

Makoto turned to their AI friend optimistically. "Oh! Were you able to intercept her?"

Alter Ego wove his fingers together in front of his chest and avoided his eyes. "I'm afraid not. Whoever programmed that virus must have been very knowledgeable. I'm trying, but so far I haven't figured out what language it was written in, let alone how to stop it from spreading." He looked up on the verge of tears. "What's worse is that there's a lot of decrypted data that doesn't seem to belong to the AI at all. It's something separate. I don't know what it does yet, but it may have brought in more files than we expected."

Makoto breathed out slowly, trying not to let his disappointment show. It wasn't Alter Ego's fault that he couldn't get rid of the virus. After all, they still didn't know where it even came from in the first place. Alter Ego was an AI; he wasn't designed to scan for malware. They hadn't assumed something like that would be necessary in the first place. The Neo World Program wasn't connected to any kind of outside network. It should have been self-contained.

Trying for a smile to soothe Alter Ego, he assured him, "You're doing your best. Just keep trying, please. Byakuya is doing everything in his power to buy us more time and I'm sure we will find a solution somehow."

Alter Ego thanked him silently with a hesitant smile of his own.

"Still, it would be preferable if we found it sooner rather than later. You know Junko. Even as an AI, she won't stand by watching Byakuya thwart her plans forever. We can't risk her doing anything more drastic," Kyoko said.

"Something more drastic? What do you mean? She took over the role of a teacher, didn't she? She shouldn't be able to harm anyone personally. As long as Byakuya can convince the others not to participate in the killing game, everything should be fine."

Alter Ego looked uncomfortable at that.

When he didn't answer, Kyoko explained, "It seems like she is trying to access more files to modify them. For now, her influence is restricted to the central island, but we can't be sure she won't be able to manipulate other areas in time. She can't do anything to harm them as Monokuma, but that doesn't mean anything if she manages to corrupt the environment."

Makoto frowned. Junko overwriting the code of the statue to turn the animals into Monobeasts was bad enough. The sudden image of a roof collapsing over the entire group entered his mind and he swallowed heavily.

"I'm really sorry! I'm trying to stop her, but she just continues to block my access to evade me," Alter Ego said quickly, bowing to them.

"It's okay, you're doing what you can," Makoto assured him. "Besides, Monomi is still there to keep Monokuma in check, too. The situation isn't looking too-"

"Oh, what's this, what's this? A romantic computer screen lit date between two lovebirds? You don't mind me watching, do you?" a shrill voice came from the doorway, followed by wild cackling.

"Uhm, Jill, that's not what it is" Makoto tried to tell her with a red face, but she had already pranced over to them.

"No need for excuses, I can imagine how it went down." She waved her hand dismissively. "I know the feeling of waking up, unable to contain my desire for my wonderful prince and- hey! Speak of the handsome devil, isn't that him?" Genocide Jill had noticed the monitor and a second later, she had pressed both of her hands against the screen. Makoto had to look twice to confirm that she wasn't actually licking it, though her tongue was dangerously close. "Ah, how I wish I could be there with him now," she swooned.

He glanced at Kyoko who just kept her eyes stoically on Jill. They may have accepted Toko's other personality as their friend but interacting with her was still rather difficult.

Suddenly, she drew back with a small "Oh?", staring intently at the screen. Then a wave of laughter broke out of her. Holding her stomach, she turned to Makoto and Kyoko, looking between them. "Did you do that? It's brilliant! I love it! It almost makes him look cute again!" she proclaimed in between guffaws, wiping a tear from her eyes as she calmed down. With a grin stretching from ear to ear, she addressed Alter Ego now. "Hey, can you make him thin again, too?"

Alter Ego looked panicked at the question.

"That won't change his appearance in the real world," Makoto tried to explain to save him, but Jill just rolled her eyes.

"I know that, Big Mac. But as long as he's in there and I can't be close to him, I wouldn't say no to some eye candy!"

Kyoko folded her arms, took a deep breath – as close to a sigh as it could get – and gave Makoto a look that told him just how annoyed she was. It also told him that she wasn't going to deal with this, so that would fall upon him.

He turned back to Jill and, with a sigh of his own, resigned himself to the task of explaining to her that they couldn't modify his avatar that much without alarming both the students and Byakuya himself. It would be a long night.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ah, this is of my favorite chapters so far. I had lots of fun writing it. Don't expect to see more from the Future Foundation any time soon, though. There will be some snippets from outside the program, but they're not very frequent.

Next chapter preview: "I bet you don't actually care about us, do you? You act all high and mighty, like you're so much better than us, but you probably wouldn't shed a tear if we all died!"


	13. Food for Thought

Thanks for the reviews, they always make me smile. :)

 **Chapter 13: Food for Thought**

Peko was used to getting up at the crack of dawn. Ever since they had been brought to Jabberwock Island, she had found herself to be one of the first people arriving at the hotel for breakfast. Sometimes, she encountered other students who were up just as early as she was. Today, it was Gundham she found sitting at one of the tables already, despite the fact that the morning announcement was still about half an hour away.

She was about to go and make some quick breakfast for herself, when she stopped, looking back at the breeder who, instead of eating, was feeding the hamsters nestled in his scarf with small strips of carrot from a saucer. The conversation she had with Hajime the previous day came to her mind and she hesitated in the middle of the room.

Eventually, Gundham looked up at her through narrowed eyes. "What is it you seek?"

Peko realized that she had been staring and quickly averted her eyes. "Nothing," she said, turning around. She took a step towards the kitchen, but the nagging thought in her head made her stop yet again. They were alone and the others probably weren't going to be here for a while. Now would be a great opportunity.

When she turned back around, she noted that he was still looking at her suspiciously. Even the hamsters stared at her warily and seeing their small black button eyes on her made her heart beat faster, both from excitement and nervousness. Making up her mind, she approached him.

"I was wondering… your hamsters, they are very well trained, are they not?"

The caution on Gundham's face turned into an amused expression. "Trained? Ha! You must not be familiar with the lifestyle and the nature of the Dark Devas of Destruction! They are no mere hamsters. This is but the form they chose to take for the duration of their stay on earth! No mortal exists that could make a god do their bidding! They may allow me to act as their servant, as I have gained their respect. However, they would never allow anyone to tame them. Their hearts are free and that will never change." The hamsters squeaked in unison at his declaration.

"I see…" she said, slightly unsure about how to proceed.

Visibly more relaxed now, Gundham sat back in his chair, turning his body to face her directly. "I assume there was a reason for you to make this inquiry."

"There was." This was it. It was now or never. "Due to my profession, animals tend to avoid me. They sense my menacing presence. I cannot approach an animal without scaring it off, even though I would like to be able to…" Peko could feel her face heat up. "Well, Hajime suggested that maybe your ha- your Dark Devas may be brave enough to allow me to pet them."

For a moment, Gundham eyed her in silent contemplation. "You may ask them to accept your touch, but I cannot speak on their behalf. The decision is theirs alone. However, if they look into your heart and see a respectable warrior, they may honor your wish."

She needed a moment to let that sink in. She could try? He allowed it?

Slowly, carefully, as if any sudden movement would scare off both the hamsters and their master, she came closer to the table, where she stood for a few seconds before she pulled out the chair opposite of him and sat down. She held her breath when Gundham gently ushered one of the hamsters out of his scarf and down his arm. It was light brown with a beige belly. All the while, Gundham was muttering encouragements in a calm voice, although it almost seemed unnecessary, as the small creature ventured forward without hesitation.

Once it had clambered down from Gundham's hand onto the table, it sat up on its hind legs, looking up at her curiously, the pink nose twitching. The thought of petting the ball of fur elated Peko so much she couldn't contain the smile that stretched her mouth.

However, as soon as it saw her facial expression change, it squeaked and backed away from her, only stopping when it bumped into its owner's hand. The other hamsters voiced their plight at seeing their friend in distress from their position on Gundham's shoulder.

The smile died on Peko's face. Ah, it happened again. She should have known that even the care of the Ultimate Breeder himself couldn't prepare the animals for any close contact with her. Her heart sank. Should she just excuse herself and leave?

Before she could make a decision, Gundham's other hand came up to rub the small head between the ears. "You need not fear her, Maga-Z. Despite her inability to express her true feelings, she appears to be an avid worshipper of your kind. She will treat you with nothing but respect." His eyes that flashed over to her added a silent _"or else"_ that was only meant for her.

Peko nodded solemnly. "I promise, I mean no harm."

The hamster glanced at its owner's face one last time, before it bravely crossed the table. Every tiny step brought it closer to her and by the time it came to a stop only a few inches from her, Peko thought she might just faint from proximity to such cuteness. Without blinking, for fear it might just turn out to be a mirage, she kept her eyes locked on the animal and raised her hand. The hamster flinched back again, making her freeze with her hand hovering in mid-air.

"Would you like to try giving him an offering to win his favor?" Gundham suggested, sliding the saucer with the sliced carrots over to her.

With a grateful smile, she carefully picked up one of them and held it out to the critter. It slowly inched closer, stretching its body and, almost viciously, lurched forward suddenly to snatch the snack with its paws. It let out a victory cry and started nibbling the carrot. Peko watched as its cheeks slowly puffed out the more it stuffed into them and thought she was going to melt.

"It seems Crimson Steel Elephant Maga-Z has accepted your challenge!" Gundham laughed. "Seeing as he is a warrior himself, I figured he wouldn't step down!"

Hearing that warmed her heart. "So, you are a fighter as well, hm?" she asked the critter. Maga-Z puffed himself up to his full height, proudly showing off the tear in his left ear. Without a doubt, the scar had been earned in a fierce battle. She smiled again and this time, the hamster was not intimidated by it. It filled her with a sense of kinship for the creature.

"Would you let me pet you?" It was a bit weird, talking to an animal, but to her amazement, she was understood. Maga-Z closed the distance between them and carefully touched her hand with his nose. Feeling like she was in heaven, she raised her trembling left hand and gently touched the hamster's fur with one of her digits.

Saying it was soft would have been an understatement. It was so much fluffier than she had expected. And warm. She could feel the fragile body and its delicate movements beneath her finger, hammering home the fact that this was a living creature she was touching. It felt incredible.

She looked up at Gundham, overwhelmed and helpless with so much emotion overcoming her. He just smiled a knowing smile and nodded at her. Her breath escaped her in a relieved half-laugh as she started petting the hamster, sometimes only barely touching the fur, for fear of hurting him. Maga-Z tried to correct that by pressing his back against her finger whenever he felt she wasn't petting him properly.

The minutes passed in a blissful haze. All she could think of was the fluffiness of the fur under her touch. All she could see were hamsters, as the other three had now taken to exploring the table. One of them fell asleep in the middle of it, while the other two decided to raid the plate of carrots, stuffing their cheek pouches as full as they could get.

Eventually, a voice calling out from behind her brought Peko back to reality.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let your rats run free? Someone might accidentally step on them."

The smile vanished from Gundham's face in an instant. Peko looked over her shoulder at Hiyoko just in time to see her shrink back under his icy glare.

"If you so much as touch one of my four Dark Devas of Destruction, I shall drag you the darkest pits of the Underworld."

"I-it was a joke! I was only joking!"

At that moment, she noticed him. Her young master stood by the doorway, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Her hand recoiled from the small rodent as if it had burned her. She quickly turned her head back to avert her gaze, staring stoically at the table where the hamster now clambered to the table's edge, tiny paws outstretched towards her in indignation at the lack of petting. How long had he been standing there? Just how long had he watched her indulge in her weakness for fluffy things? It was humiliating. She didn't even want to imagine what he must be thinking of her now.

"Looks like you're enjoying yourselves."

Her young master's words made Peko look back at him. She faintly noticed that he had drawn the attention of the other students as well, but the look on his face drowned all of that out. His lips were curled in a smirk, which to anyone else might have looked like he was mocking them. However, she recognized it for what it was. It was an expression of humor she had seen on his face several times before. Yes, it was teasing in a way, but there was no malice in it. When he looked at her like that, with his eyes sparkling in mirth and familiarity, it was as if they were sharing a private joke.

When she realized that their eyes had been locked for a while, she quickly looked away again. Only now did she notice her heart beating loudly in her chest. She fought to keep her composure, but she could still feel the heat rising to her face. How embarrassing.

A small movement caught her attention and she saw the hamster jumping up and down now to regain her attention. There were voices in the background, meaningless banter her young master allowed himself to get dragged into, but it just washed over her. She smiled at the small creature. She would thank Gundham in a minute for allowing her to pet his hamster and then get something to eat for herself. The rest of the students would arrive soon and they didn't all have to see her like this.

But not quite yet.

With her young master's words in mind, she raised her hand from where it had fallen at her side, hesitantly at first. However, when the hamster stretched his head toward the hand hovering above him, she slowly resumed the careful petting. Her young master had given her permission, after all. It was fine. Just for a few more precious moments, she would relish in the sensation. The fur beneath her fingers was almost as fuzzy as the feeling in her chest.

* * *

Byakuya entered Hotel Mirai much later than usual. His sleep must have been very restless, because one strand of his hair had decided to stick up from his head stubbornly. It had taken a lot of time, effort and hair care products to finally get it to lie down properly again. So, when he finally entered the dining area, he was the last one to arrive.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up. And here I thought you'd end up breaking your own rule on the first day," Fuyuhiko drawled. Of course he wouldn't leave his tardiness uncommented.

"Fifteen minutes is still enough time for a meal."

Fuyuhiko snorted and proceeded to ignore him. Byakuya let his gaze sweep over the students and was satisfied to see that everything was harmonious for the moment. With the exception of Fuyuhiko, who had chosen to sit alone, far away from everyone else, they had formed small groups that were scattered over different tables. There were conversations going on at most of them. Byakuya was a bit surprised to see what a weird group had formed among Sonia, Peko, Kazuichi and Gundham.

Sonia gave him a smile when she saw him look their way, but it seemed a bit strained. He figured it might have had something to do with Kazuichi, who was talking insistently to her while Peko and Gundham threw exasperated glances at him periodically. It reminded Byakuya of being stalked by Toko and he was suddenly very grateful that his captors had been mindful enough not to bring her into this killing game too.

Hajime didn't indicate that there were any issues either, sitting next to a half-asleep Chiaki and talking to Mikan in a soft voice. Byakuya grabbed a plate to eat for himself and then went over to take a seat at the table with Nekomaru and Akane. Without giving him more than a brief glance, the gymnast acknowledged his presence with a quick wave of her chopsticks in the middle of eating.

"Would you say this arrangement is to your satisfaction?" he asked Nekomaru as soon as he sat down.

"Good morning, Byakuya! Well, I wouldn't have insisted on turning it into an official rule, but it seems to work out swimmingly!" Nekomaru said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Fuyuhiko snorted, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Swimmingly my ass."

Byakuya hesitated before continuing the conversation. He would prefer if it took place just between the two of them for now, but that seemed impossible with Nekomaru's lack of an indoor voice. On the other hand, it wasn't exactly a secret and hearing the students' thoughts on this matter now might save them some time, in case they were all going to protest.

"It appears, however, like it turned out to be not much of a group event after all. We could move the tables to enable everyone to sit together." At Hope's Peak, the tables were at least long enough that they could have all sat together, if they had wanted to.

Nekomaru hummed in thought. "It's true that we split up into multiple groups, but I don't see that as much of a problem. If we want to have more of an event for the entire group, we could still go back to scheduling a training routine."

At the same time as Akane reacted with an enthusiastic grin and a muffled "Aw, yeah!" around her mouth full of food, Kazuichi shouted across the dining area, "Hey! What're you plotting back there? I'm okay with having breakfast with you guys, but training is where I draw the line! Not everyone's into physical fitness!"

Byakuya sighed inwardly. That was exactly what he had anticipated.

"Working out does sound rather exhausting," Chiaki agreed and sat up a little straighter. "How about something else?"

"Like what?" Hiyoko asked, sounding skeptical.

Chiaki played with the strings of her hoodie for a moment before she said, "We could meet in the evening to do something together. There are the arcade machines in the lobby, we could take turns playing. Or we could just sit together and talk about our day or our hobbies or whatever else we can think of."

"Sounds fun!" Ibuki exclaimed.

Hiyoko gave her a dirty look from across the table. "That sounds like a support group meeting. What about that is supposed to be fun?"

"I don't care what you decide to waste your time on but leave me out of it. I'm sick of getting dragged into your bullshit meetings," Fuyuhiko said. Letting his chair scrape loudly over the ground, he stood up and went for the exit.

"Where are you going?" Byakuya asked.

The yakuza stopped at the door and twisted his upper body around to answer. "It's 8, so I'm out of here."

"Don't you think it would be a good idea to listen to what be decide on?"

Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes. "How often do I need to you that I'm not gonna take part? Just leave me the fuck alone." Then he turned back to leave, saying over his shoulder, "And if you dare to make this a fucking rule again, I'll kill you, got it?"

If he was still close enough to hear Byakuya's sarcastic "Sure you will." he didn't react to it.

"Well," Nekomaru said, clearing his throat a little awkwardly, "I agree that it should be a voluntary meeting. Those who want to participate are welcome to show up and those who don't won't be pressured."

"Good," Hiyoko said loudly. "Cause sitting in a circle talking about our life sounds super lame."

"It won't hurt to at least try it out," Mahiru said, to which Hiyoko looked conflicted.

"We don't have to really settle on one activity. How about we play games one evening and do something else the next day?" Hajime suggested.

Ibuki cheered, leaning backwards with her chair and balancing it on only two legs. "That sounds double fun!"

"What about the training?" Akane asked, looking a bit miffed at the turn of events.

Hajime seemed less enthusiastic about that, but he said, "I guess we could do some training as well. I mean, if we want to include a variety of activities for everyone, it's only fair."

Nekomaru nodded. "That does sound like a good compromise. Is everyone okay with that?"

Sounds of agreement resonated from every table. Kazuichi could be heard muttering, "Well, if we can pass on the stuff we don't like…"

"It looks like there are no objections. Shall we schedule these meetings for 8 p.m., then?" Byakuya said, satisfied that they had been able to come to an acceptable arrangement without his input.

There were nods around the room, confirming their agreement. After that, the students slowly started to disperse and go about their day. Byakuya rubbed his back as best as he could reach it and glared at Nekomaru when the coach's hand hit him with the force of a falling log in what was probably supposed to be an affectionate gesture as he left. Shaking his head, Byakuya finished his own late breakfast before he set off to take care of the two attempted murderers.

He didn't bother speaking with Nagito this time, not quite knowing how to get the Ultimate Lucky Student to give him any helpful answers. There had to be a way to get through to him. Byakuya just needed to figure out what made him tick. Easier said than done.

When he returned from the hotel a second time, on his way to Teruteru's cottage, he came across Ibuki near the pool. Byakuya wouldn't have taken note of her, had she not suddenly stopped to look at him. Precisely, at the top of his head. He had an inkling what she was looking at and he hoped against all odds that she wouldn't comment on it.

"Oh, wow! Byakuya with an ahoge! Looking good on you! Are you going for a partner look with Hajime?"

He really should have known better. She was loud enough to cause Kazuichi, who was already well on his way of leaving the hotel area, to turn around and look at him.

Byakuya passed her without breaking stride. Apart from a barely noticeable tightening of his jaw, nothing about his appearance betrayed the fact that the girl had just risen to the top of his potential murder victim list he had formulated in his head. (Of course, he wasn't planning on actually murdering anyone. But it was always a good thing to be prepared for all possible scenarios.)

He spontaneously decided that an extensive washing and styling of his hair was in order once Teruteru was provided for.

When he entered the cottage, however, the issue left his mind momentarily. Instead, he was extremely displeased at what he found. The cook was still in bed, staring at the ceiling blankly without even paying him any mind. His plate of food from last night looked like it had only been picked at a little. Teruteru couldn't have eaten more than a few bites.

"Didn't I tell you that you need to eat?" he asked, setting down the breakfast plate next to the other one.

Teruteru didn't move. "I'm not hungry."

Byakuya frowned, folding his arms in front of him. Not hungry? Nonsense. He had barely eaten anything in an entire day. There was no way he wasn't feeling the consequences of that. So, what else could be the reason?

… Well, it was actually quite obvious, now that he thought about it. Teruteru was the Ultimate Cook. He had been complaining about the island food ever since they had arrived here. Byakuya was skilled in a lot of different ways and he quickly picked up on new things, but he was aware that his cooking wasn't nearly on the same level as Teruteru's. After all, he had only really taken up cooking once the first killing game was over. Before he went to Hope's Peak Academy, he hadn't even touched a pan. A few months of practice over makeshift stoves just couldn't match years of experience developing an ultimate talent. It had to be frustrating. But that didn't mean he hadn't brought this upon himself.

"I understand that my cooking can't compare to yours, but I'm afraid that's all I have to offer. You're under house arrest, so you can't exactly expect a five-star meal."

Teruteru blinked a few times, apparently waking up from his stupor. "The food is fine," he said eventually, his voice still as monotone as before.

That was puzzling. "If there's nothing wrong with the food, why aren't you eating?"

It looked like Teruteru was going to say something, but no sound came out when he opened his mouth. He stayed like that for a bit, looking like a dead fish, before he slowly closed it again. "It's nothing," he muttered, almost unintelligibly.

That was obviously a lie, a very bad one at that, but Byakuya hesitated to call him out on it. Something was the matter and even though he didn't know what, he needed to thread carefully if he wanted to avoid stepping on a landmine again. When nothing came to him, he eventually settled on telling him what was going through his mind. It wasn't something he would normally do, but maybe Teruteru himself could help him out when he knew about what was going on.

"Look, I'm just trying to make sure you're okay, but I can't do that if I don't know what's going through your head."

Teruteru sighed, finally sitting up, every movement was sluggish. "I can't stop thinking about home." He was staring at the blanket now. Byakuya wasn't sure whether that was a step up from the ceiling. With a half-shrug, Teruteru added, "Made me lose my appetite."

His home? Ah, yes. His motive. Byakuya uncrossed his arms, nodding to himself. He understood the sentiment. This was probably the moment he was supposed to say something encouraging, but the last time he tried that, it had backfired terribly. Not for the first time, he wished he could pass this task onto someone else. Preferably Makoto. Come to think of it, Makoto could probably get through to Nagito, too.

Too bad that there was no alternative, it was really up to him. Byakuya had contemplated what it had been that had caused Teruteru to become a sobbing mess the last time. While his unstable mental state at the time had to be taken into account, of course, he had come to the conclusion that it had been primarily because Byakuya had essentially told him that the negative events in life couldn't be changed. In retrospect, it probably just served to increase his despair over his destroyed past. Which was truly unfortunate and not at all his intention. He just hadn't thought that this might be what Teruteru took from it.

Recalling what Makoto had told him when he himself had been devastated over the downfall of the Togami Empire, he tried again. This time, he would just have to give him some hope to cling to.

"I get that you would be upset over it, but refusing to eat won't help you. You should focus on the future instead of the past. Even if the diner got destroyed, that's not the end of the world. You are the Ultimate Cook, are you not? You can build a new restaurant. You have the skill to start over from scratch and make it work. If you just believe in yourself, you can carry on, building your own legacy. You won't lose unless you let a small set-back stop you from achieving your goals."

Well, that hadn't been too terrible, had it? The words had felt a little awkward and foreign on his tongue, but he had to admit to himself that it sounded considerably better than his poor first attempt. He was a little proud of himself.

Teruteru stared at him and Byakuya held his gaze confidently. Until the cook's face contorted in anger.

"Are you actually serious right now?! This isn't about the goddamn diner!"

Byakuya almost took a step back. "It's not?"

Teruteru's hands twisted the blanket in their grip and he looked at Byakuya – almost with disgust. "Of course not! Do I actually need to explain it to you?"

For once, Byakuya was speechless and he felt like he was missing an essential piece to the puzzle. He could tell that Teruteru thought that the core of his problems should be obvious, but… he just couldn't see it. It bothered him. Especially when Teruteru snorted at his silence.

"What, is that really your answer? Are you really that stupid?!" he snarled.

"Watch your-"

"No, you're going to listen now!" Oh dear, there was that dreaded dialect again. "I can't believe I need to spell it out to you, but there's more to me than just my talent! I'm not just some chef, I'm also a human being! Have you ever thought of that or didn't you actually think of other people as humans?"

"What are you even talking about?!" The question was justified in more than one way. Apart from the fact that his words started to become so warped that Byakuya had trouble keeping up with their meaning, the bits he thought he could understand didn't make any sense to him. "What is this about, then?"

Byakuya was getting agitated, but while he tried to hold back on his anger, Teruteru didn't put any restrictions on himself. His next answer was a string of warbled noise, loud and angry. His voice cracking in the middle of whatever he was saying didn't exactly help. It left him panting and Byakuya confused.

"Come again? I didn't quite catch that."

Teruteru was fuming. He yelled something that might have been an "Are you fucking serious?" or something along those lines, but it was cut short by something that sounded like a sob, even though he wasn't crying.

"Your accent is quite difficult to understand!" Byakuya finally snapped back.

Teruteru buried his face in his hands. The only sound filling the room was his ragged breathing. When he finally collected himself enough to continued, Byakuya was thankful that he forced himself to speak slowly, though his voice was dripping with cynicism.

"I thought you were trying to lead us because you didn't want to see us die, but the more I hear from you, the more I doubt that." The first sentence was spoken in relative calm, but from there on, his voice picked up on volume again and a fraction of the former agitation returned. "You don't show compassion; you don't understand anything about other people's emotions… I bet you don't actually care about us, do you? You act all high and mighty, like you're so much better than us, but you probably wouldn't shed a tear if we all died! Tell me, why did you want to be our leader, if you don't even have empathy?"

"I became your leader to keep you alive!" Byakuya said, feeling weirdly defensive about it. The question didn't make much sense to him in the first place. What did one thing have to do with the other? Besides, he had plenty of empathy! He had just given Teruteru a motivational speech! Had he completely forgotten about that?

"But for what reason?! Why do you care? _Do_ you even care?"

His mind was racing to catch up with the unexpected turn of the conversation, but he was completely lost. "Because our chances of survival are highest when I am in charge. Or do you think anyone else could stand up to Monokuma?"

Teruteru broke out into laughter so suddenly, it was a bit disturbing. There was no humor in it either, the sound was twisted and almost violent. He was breathing heavily when he said, "So, you really don't! It's all just a matter of pride for you!" The grin on his face didn't look quite right.

Naturally, it was. However, Teruteru made it sound judgmental, as if it was a bad thing. As if he could hardly believe it because it was somehow an outlandish concept. Byakuya failed to see how that was the case. "What difference does it make for you what my motives are?"

Teruteru calmed down a bit and the grin was replaced by a bitter little smile. "I don't know. It may not matter for some. But knowing that the person who assured you repeatedly that he wouldn't let you die doesn't give a damn about you does feel rather hollow to me."

Hollow? "Why is that?"

Teruteru stared at him blankly. Eventually, he laid back down with a sigh, his eyes instantly finding the same spot on the ceiling they had been staring at when Byakuya had entered the cottage. His voice was low and toneless, as if he had spent all of his excess energy on his sudden and inexplicable outburst of anger and now he didn't have any strength left to muster another emotion. "You really don't understand anything. Maybe you should look up 'empathy' if we ever get out of here." With that strange remark, he pulled the blanket up to his chin and turned his back to Byakuya. "Could you leave now? I don't want to talk anymore."

As he didn't know what else he could do – he didn't even know what had caused this conversation to get so out of hand! – Byakuya said, "Putting all that aside, my point still stands. Stop starving yourself. That won't help anyone."

Teruteru answered with a snort as Byakuya left him alone again.

* * *

"Seeing as you are a nurse, I assume you care a lot about other people."

Mikan jabbed the cotton ball moistened with antiseptic just a little too hard into his wound and Byakuya hissed, withdrawing his arm. Mortified, the girl looked up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

Giving her a disgruntled look and cradling his arm protectively close to himself, he told her, "I'd hope so. And I would appreciate it if you didn't do it again."

"I'm really sorry!" she whimpered, hiding her head under her arms. "Y-your question startled me…"

Maybe talking to her while she was busy treating his arm in his room had been a bad idea after all. The thought had just come to him so suddenly and it had seemed like a good opportunity. Reluctantly, he held out his arm for her to continue, which she did, now with almost too extreme caution.

Her meticulous treatment over the past few days really did show, however. The wound had healed a lot faster than he had at first anticipated and she had told him earlier that she would be able remove the stitches soon. He was still instructed not to put much strain on it for the time being, but Mikan herself had expressed her delight at seeing the exceptionally quick healing process.

Nagito was the same. For as serious as his injury had been, he was healing very fast and Mikan expected him to be able to walk again soon. Byakuya wondered if the island climate had something to do with it.

"Uhmm… I'm sorry, you were t-trying to ask me something…" Mikan reminded him after a few minutes of silence.

"Are you sure it's okay to talk now?"

Her face turned a very dark shade of red. "I-I'm prepared for it now. I just didn't… expect it before."

He watched her for another minute, but when she started to squirm and show signs of discomfort, he felt it might be safer to ask her anyway, to avoid her messing up again due to her growing nervousness. "Yes, I had been wondering about your profession. I assume you would need to have a lot of empathy and care for your patients?"

Mikan shifted restlessly. "Uh. I… I guess."

Not a very reassuring answer, but it would have to do. "I was speaking to Teruteru earlier and it appears there is something on his mind. He hasn't been eating well and he acts rather apathetic, but he wouldn't tell me what was wrong with him." Well, when he wasn't yelling, that was.

Mikan's head snapped up. "Do you want me to take a look at him?" she asked, almost eagerly.

"I don't think that's necessary," he said. "It isn't that serious yet. But I was wondering if you might have an idea what could be on his mind?"

"Well…" She chanced a glance up, but before they could even make eye contact, she quickly looked down again. "I would a-assume that he is still worried about his mother."

"His mother?"

She nodded hesitantly. "He did say that she was ill, didn't he?"

Byakuya thought back to the conversation they had after the attack and remembered him saying something like that. "But what use is worrying if he is stuck on this island? He won't be able to find out what happened to her until we find a way to leave," he said. In a way, it reminded him of Schrödinger's Cat. While they couldn't get in touch with the outside world, she could be both alive and dead.

Mikan was silent for a while as she finished swabbing his arm with the cotton ball and started bandaging it with fresh gauze. Eventually, she asked a question Byakuya didn't expect. "P-please forgive me for asking, but y-you're not very close with your family, are you?"

"No," he told her, curious where she was going with this.

Again, the moment of silence stretched until he got a little annoyed at her.

"I've n-never…," she finally said, then she shook her head and started over. "I'm not very close with my parents either. B-but to a lot of people, they are very important. They wouldn't want them to be hurt, much less d-die. It might be hard to u-understand for us because we don't have that same… uhm… connection to them."

Byakuya was silent, thinking about what she had said as she fixed the gauze, having finished her work.

When Mikan closed the first-aid kit, she kept her hand on the lid, staring down at it. "It's not an… an accurate comparison, but t-try to imagine the most important person to you. What would you do if they were ill and you couldn't even v-visit them? I-Imagine what you would do if they were dying…"

The most important person in his life? Byakuya blinked down at her. He tried to think of someone, but somehow, nobody came to mind.

His family was just that – blood relatives. They were significant in the sense of giving him a biological heritage and making him the heir to the company when it had still existed. However, they weren't exactly important to him on a deeply emotional level.

Apart from them, there were… his friends from Hope's Peak, he figured. They were important to him, as they had been forced to form a team for survival, building a net of support. He didn't know about their circumstances at this moment in time, but knowing about their synergy, he could only assume that they were fine. Even if the outside world was dangerous in its current state, they could survive just fine without him, Byakuya was confident in that. Kyoko might be aggravating more often than not, but she was competent enough to make up for the incompetence of their weakest group members.

But what if they couldn't survive that easily? Just to explore that hypothetical scenario. He imagined what he might feel if the last memory he had of his friends was that they were swarmed by a group of despairful, violent survivors. Byakuya frowned. The thought of them dying was… unpleasant, truly. He wrinkled his brow at the mere idea.

Despite that, he felt like he still couldn't grasp what had made Teruteru so… emotional. Apparently, he placed even more importance than that on his mother. And judging from both Teruteru's reaction and Mikan's explanation, it was something that he should be able to understand. The only problem was, he didn't.

He understood that Teruteru was upset. But upset enough to cry his eyes out and scream at him?

Unbidden, the image of Teruteru, furious and close to tears overlapped with one of a different person. They were so similar in his mind that he didn't even notice the way his thoughts shifted initially. Only when he heard the echo of her voice did he notice that the red and white clothes weren't part of a chef's uniform but a sports jacket over a tank top and that the gravity-defying hairstyle belonged to Asahina.

The expression was nearly the same, though. Her eyes glaring daggers at him while tears were running down her reddened cheeks. Of course. He had seen it before. Teruteru was just as distraught as the swimmer, right after Sakura had died. Before she had known that the death of her friend had been a suicide.

Back then, Asahina had been willing to kill them all as well. No, not just them. She had been ready to give her own life along with everyone else. Just for the sake of another person who couldn't be saved anymore.

Byakuya hadn't understood it back then, either. Still couldn't, really. How they could both be so affected and distraught by the death of a family member or a friend. He couldn't imagine himself in a similar position.

But at the same time, he felt like he was slowly starting to figure it out. He knew that other people had different reactions to things, naturally. He had never made the mistake of judging others by his own standards, or so he had told himself before. He had considered the possibility that other people were motivated by other things than himself. What he had always neglected to take into account… were relationships.

He hadn't seen them as more than a natural occurrence. Humans were social. Connections formed. It was normal for that to happen. But that they could be such a huge influence on people's behavior…

Maybe he had underestimated them.

Byakuya sighed. Humans were truly complex creatures. Naturally, he hadn't _just_ figured that out, but his… well… somewhat lacking knowledge when it came to the finer points of emotions and relationships had never been a hindrance before. He would have to look into this more if he wanted to truly understand them.

"Thank you," he said, and Mikan's head snapped up to look at him with wide eyes. "I feel like I'm starting to see what I couldn't before."

* * *

 **A/N:** And with that, what would be "chapter 1" if this followed the typical Danganronpa formula is finally done, with 16 surviving students.

That being said, I need to take a break from this story for a while. I'll definitely continue, but the next chapter will take a bit longer than usual. I'm aiming for October, but it might take until November. Sorry about that.


	14. Do Video Games Cause Violence?

Short reminder/context, because it's been a while: The students agreed to have an mandatory meeting for breakfast and a voluntary one in the evenings in order to strengthen the team spirit. This chapter starts with the first evening meeting.

 **Chapter 14:** **Do Video Games Cause Violence?**

The hotel lobby was unexpectedly crowded, Byakuya noted as he entered it. He hadn't considered that so many of the students might attend the second meeting on the evening, especially as it wasn't mandatory to come. Seeing them flock together out of their own free will… he carefully categorized it as a small success.

They were loud, too. He had been able to hear them from outside without even opening the door. Now he noted that Ibuki was the rowdiest of the bunch, skipping from group to group to loudly contribute to their conversations, though Nekomaru easily outnoised her when he spoke. Quickly doing a headcount, he ended up counting eleven students, excluding himself.

"Yo," Akane spoke up behind him, "you're blocking the doorway."

He stepped aside to let her in. Twelve, then. Even Gundham was there, though lurking in a secluded corner by the reception desk. In fact, the only one who hadn't come was Fuyuhiko, which surprised no one.

Hiyoko looked like she didn't want to be here either, but she stuck close to Mahiru anyway. However, when she spotted Byakuya by the doorway, her bored expression shifted to a derisive smirk she immediately hid behind her hand. Her snort and the way her eyes darted above his eye level told Byakuya that he should have checked a mirror before coming here.

"What's wrong with your hair? Do you realize that it looks stupid?"

Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of getting a rise out of him, he just stared her down with a deadpan expression. "Nothing is wrong with it. And you of all people don't have any right to question other people's hair style." He gave her absurd pigtails a meaningful glance, making her gasp and back away from him in horror.

"Shut up! At least I've got an actual hair style instead of trying to make myself look like an attention whore!" she snapped back.

"Excuse me?!"

Her mouth curled in a sly grin. "You heard me. I don't know of any hair style that's just a ridiculous antenna sticking up from your head. It just screams 'look at me, I'm so important!'" she said, changing her voice to sound even dumber than usual for that last part.

The nerve of that girl!

Clearing his throat loudly, Hajime parted from the crowd to step up to them. He looked mildly irritated, maybe because Hiyoko had (unintentionally?) targeted him as well with her mockery. Even so, he left her remarks uncommented and just started talking to Byakuya as if nothing had happened.

"Before you arrived, we were talking about what we wanted to do and we came to an agreement to take up Chiaki's suggestion and play some games today. We have the arcades, the pool table and the table soccer right here, so there should be enough options. If that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," Byakuya said. It wasn't like he actually cared what they were up to.

"Aww, and I was looking forward for some exciting fights or at least some training," Akane complained.

Hajime shrugged. "Sorry. Most of the students were in favor of some games."

"The arcades have a really great fighting game with awesome combos. It's not as physical as a real fight, but you might enjoy it anyway," Chiaki contributed with a smile.

Akane had perked up hearing the word 'fighting' and Byakuya wasn't sure she had even listened to the rest of what had been said. With a lot more enthusiasm now, she said, "Awesome! Which one of you wants to get their ass kicked?"

"Pff, I bet you've never even played a video game in your life. You're going to lose for sure," Hiyoko said.

Akane slammed her fist into her other palm in response. "Is that a challenge?"

"You bet it is!"

"Alright, bring it on!"

"I'll stomp you so hard you won't know what hit you!"

Within seconds, they were at the arcade machine, exchanging taunts as they started up the game.

"Looks like they're having fun already," Chiaki commented.

Hajime scratched his head. "I'm not so sure about that…"

"Of course they're having fun!" Nekomaru came up from behind, his massive hand crashing down on Hajime's shoulder. He managed to withstand the blow, but Byakuya noticed that his knees wobbled dangerously. "Exchanging banter during combat is just part of a good fight. It's a great way to get fired up!"

Chiaki glanced at the other machine. "Well, we have room for two more players on the arcades, so who wants-"

"I'll go!" Kazuichi stepped forward, striking a confident pose and giving a thumbs up. "I'll show you how it's done! Miss Sonia! Please watch…" Turning around in search of her, he trailed off when he saw that she was completely ignoring him as she walked up to Gundham's dark corner.

"Gundham, you should join us! I'm sure it will be lots of fun! Would you like to, ah, 'one v one' me?"

"Miss… Miss Sonia?!"

"Well, this is working out better than expected," Byakuya said, watching Ibuki drag Mahiru to the table soccer while Nekomaru rounded up Peko and a terribly stressed looking Mikan to play pool against him. Still, the nurse kept a firm grip on the cue when it was handed to her and Nekomaru started setting up the game.

It was then that they were interrupted and the room froze.

"You're calling _this_ a success? Don't make me laugh! This is lame as hell!" an annoying voice shrieked out and Byakuya stiffened, recognizing it instantly. He quickly looked around for the source and found Monokuma standing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the restaurant.

The lobby, previously noisy from the various sources of chatter, was eerily quiet, with just the 8-bit music coming from the games interrupting the blanket of nervous silence. When he had the attention of all the students, Monokuma hung his head. "Seriously, I can't even describe my disappointment. _This_ is what you consider fun? Where's the blood? Where's the murder? You can't even rip your opponent's spine out of their body or gut them when you finish them! The characters just fall over and faint!"

"You are not welcome here. Leave," Byakuya said, stepping forward. He was well aware that he couldn't do anything to force him away, but as the leader, it was his responsibility to act on the students' behalf. Besides, he couldn't sit quietly, just watching while that stupid bear ruined everything.

Monokuma looked back up, his left eye flashing in an angry red. "I try to liven up your party and this is how you thank me?"

"We didn't ask you to."

"Well, I don't care! I'll do it anyway!"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling that he might know where this was going and he didn't like it one bit.

"You know, even if this is a class trip, as a teacher I can't just ignore the fact that you shouldn't be playing these mindlessly violent video games. Instead, you should be playing an educationally violent video game! And I'm just generous enough to provide one."

"Please don't."

But Monokuma was already gone the next second. In his place, the monitor behind the reception bar lit up and the bear cleared his throat on the green-tinted screen. "Ahem! Attention! Attention! This is a message to all students! Please assemble at Jabberwock Park immediately! Anyone who doesn't come will be executed. See you there!" The screen went black again just as soon.

Byakuya's jaw was tight and he took a slow, deep breath to focus.

"So… what do we do?" Ibuki asked, poking her fingers together nervously.

Hiyoko looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Are you stupid? We go, of course! Unless you want to die!" She was obviously trying to act tough but Byakuya noted that her hands were trembling around their iron grip on the edge of the arcade machine.

Looking up, he saw Hajime shooting him a searching glance, looking for direction, and Byakuya quickly nodded his head. "It seems we don't have a choice in the matter. We will have to follow his orders for now," he said.

The students all looked tense and nervous, which was understandable. They didn't know what exactly Monokuma was capable of yet, but nothing good had ever come from the bear and his long absence had lulled them into a false sense of security. Well, even if they did know, it wouldn't exactly help to reassure them.

"Before you go," he added quickly while they were all still assembled like this, "I want you to be aware that this is a trap. Monokuma is probably going to try and give you an incentive to commit murder. Do not fall for it! He has no power over you if you don't go along with it. He cannot force us to do anything unless we take the bait. I expect you all to be smarter than that."

Some of them nodded, there was muttering here and there, but all in all, his words seemed to have a positive effect on them. Most of them looked a little surer of themselves. It wasn't a guarantee that they wouldn't cave, but it was a start. It would have to suffice for now.

He observed them as they filed out quietly, one by one, until Sonia walked past the others, approaching him with a hardened look on her face. Seeing her like that, her leadership position was obvious. "Byakuya," she said curtly, "What about Teruteru and Nagito?"

Byakuya was about to ask why she brought them up, but he quickly recalled Monokuma's words and caught on to what she meant. And it was a good thing she had brought it up. There was not a shred of doubt in his mind that Monokuma would be all too happy to execute them for not coming to the park. Never mind the fact that they couldn't leave their cottages without assistance. Leaving them there would have been a fatal oversight.

He gave her a grateful nod. "We will have to bring them along. Tell Mikan. Even if his wounds aren't completely healed, it must be done," he instructed her before turning around. Nekomaru was so tall, a quick glance over the crowd was enough to spot him. "Nekomaru!" he quickly called out just as the coach disappeared through the door.

Pushing Mahiru and Chiaki out of his way, Byakuya hurried to catch up with him. Thankfully, Nekomaru had heard him and was waiting for him outside the door.

"What's the matter?" he asked as soon as Byakuya reached him.

"I need your help. Could you carry Nagito to the park?"

Nekomaru nodded gravely. "Of course. Leave it to me."

When they were halfway to the cottages, they were joined by Sonia and a fretting Mikan.

"We're going to have to move Nagito. Do you think his injuries have healed enough to not cause any major issues?" Byakuya addressed the nurse.

"I… I wouldn't normally recommended it, but… he has made great progress in his recovery, so it sh-should be alright."

Byakuya unlocked Nagito's door and watched as Nekomaru and Mikan went inside to pick up the patient, before he went over to Teruteru's cottage to let him out. The cook was pale when he hesitantly stepped out of the hut, his eyes darting immediately over to where Nekomaru was carrying Nagito out the door and looking away just as quickly.

"Hey, uh, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Teruteru asked, his voice shaking a little.

"No," Byakuya answered quickly, "and we should keep it that way. Monokuma no doubt wants to give us a reason to do something stupid. Whatever it is, don't let it affect you. Just come with us quietly."

It was Nagito who then spoke up, sounding unreasonably happy. "There is no need to worry! Whatever it is, I'm sure we can turn it into something hopeful with you on our side!"

A moment of silence followed in which everyone stared at Nagito.

Byakuya carefully didn't flinch away from the bright eyes directed at him. He scowled. "There wouldn't be anything to worry about if you weren't so…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Never mind. Let's just go, before Monokuma decides that being late is punishable by death."

* * *

"Finally! I was starting to wonder if you'd decided to ditch the meeting entirely!" Monokuma exclaimed when they joined the rest of the students in the park.

Byakuya rolled his eyes at his theatrics and crossed his arms. "Say what you have to say and don't drag this out any longer than necessary." He really didn't look forward to hearing what ridiculous things the bear had to say now.

And ridiculous it was. He presented this stupid game, Twilight Syndrome or something, with a flashy presentation on a big screen like it was a revelation the world had been waiting for. Thankfully, the other students didn't buy it and started complaining soon after the bear was done.

Byakuya had to admit that he was a little confused. He had seen Monokuma's motives, and that one didn't seem to fit the pattern. How would a video game be an incentive for murder? Judging by the reactions, the majority of the students proclaimed that they were not interested in 'adventure games'. And Chiaki, the only one defending the genre, also didn't seem to be too keen on playing a game developed by Monokuma.

There had to be more to it than that. Something he couldn't quite see yet. Therefore, Byakuya silenced the discussion by proclaiming loudly, "None of you is to play this game."

"Hey bastard, that's not for you to decide." Naturally, Fuyuhiko would oppose him just for the sake of it. Typical.

Byakuya gave him a pointed look. "So, you'd rather take Monokuma's bait?"

"That's not-!"

"He _wants_ us to play it. Everyone with half a brain should know that it's a trap. With that in mind, why would you still go along with it?"

Fuyuhiko glared daggers at him. "Obviously to be prepared. Who says someone else isn't going to play it behind everyone's back? Not knowing what the motive is puts you at a disadvantage."

"That's correct. We shouldn't be completely oblivious to any possible threat. Which is why I will be the only one playing it. When I know what the motive is, I can take measures to counteract it. The less people in the know the safer we all are."

"Bullshit! Who says _you_ won't murder someone after you've seen it?"

Byakuya sniffed, a little offended. "Because I am trying to save your lives," he said, speaking slowly as if he was addressing a child.

Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in response. "That's what you say. You could be lying about that."

The stupidity was starting to hurt.

"How about a compromise?" Sonia stepped in with a diplomatic smile. "I agree that the contents of this game should be viewed by as few people as possible. However, I think it would be a smart decision to have two people play it together, to avoid one person being biased."

"… I guess that is an option," Byakuya conceded, not entirely happy about it, but he could see her point.

Fuyuhiko snorted. "Aren't you one of his lap dogs or something? You'd just do whatever he says anyway."

"I could play it with him."

Byakuya's eyebrows rose when he turned to Chiaki.

Fuyuhiko didn't look convinced either. "You?" he asked.

Even when she was met with two skeptical pairs of eyes, she didn't look deterred. "Of course," she said. "I'm a neutral party, so I won't favor anyone and if it's something all of us should see, I'll tell everyone else, no matter what Byakuya decides."

Byakuya scowled.

"Besides, I played the original games. I don't know how relevant this might be, but I would be able to spot anything that might be strange about this one", she added.

"You do realize that this makes you a very likely candidate to be a target of this motive?" Byakuya said. "You are the Ultimate Gamer and the motive is a video game you're familiar with. Everything suggests that it might be specifically tailored to you." Even if that would be an unusual modus operandi for Monokuma. Wouldn't he usually try to tempt as many people as possible? A motive that would only target one specific person was highly unlikely.

"Well, if I am the target, you'd find out right along with me."

"I think this is a reasonable solution," Sonia said, clapping her hands together. She turned to address Fuyuhiko. "Do you find this acceptable?"

"Tch. You're so busy kissing each other's asses that you wouldn't listen to anyone else anyway," he spat. "For the record, I still think this is stupid and I won't be the one caught unaware if you fuck up." With those words, he left the park.

"Oh dear," Sonia said quietly.

"Don't mind him for the time being, we can take care of him later," Byakuya said. Though he couldn't help but worry about it too. That they _would_ have to deal with Fuyuhiko at some point was getting increasingly clear. The peace wouldn't last forever and Byakuya couldn't risk him snapping when his frustration grew too high.

But there was a time and place for everything. Right now, the most important thing to do was to look into Monokuma's newest motive. Byakuya took a few steps toward the game and turned around to let his gaze sweep over the students.

"Well, you heard it. Chiaki and I will stay here and play the game. The rest of you will go back to the hotel. If there is anything you should know, we will inform you tomorrow morning. If the game turns out to be just a waste of time, which is more than likely, then there is no reason for you to play it either way. In any case, it would be for the best if you just ignored it. Rest easy knowing that we will take charge and keep the situation under control."

With a certain amount of satisfaction, Byakuya noted that more than a few students looked a little less tense at that. People could be so simple. As long as someone else took responsibility, they lost some of the pressure of not knowing the best course of action. He walked over to where Teruteru, and Nekomaru were still standing close together. He motioned for Sonia to come with him and waved Hajime over to them as well.

Once they were all assembled, Byakuya addressed Hajime and Sonia, "I don't expect anything to happen, but see to it that they all get back safely. I mostly just want you to bring Teruteru and Nagito back and make sure to lock their doors again."

He took the cottage keys out of his pocket and handed them to Sonia. Teruteru grimaced but didn't say anything. When Byakuya noticed Mikan lingering near them and casting hesitant glances in their direction, he added, "And it looks like you need to wait for Mikan to check up on Nagito."

"I'm fine," Nagito said cheerfully. "It's incredible how gentle Nekomaru can be when he has so much strength to spare. Even though I certainly would have deserved a rougher treatment."

Byakuya ignored him and focused on his two helpers instead.

Hajime looked a little uncomfortable, but he nodded anyway. "We'll take care of it. I just hope the motive isn't too bad."

"It probably isn't," Byakuya assured him. "Monokuma likes to be dramatic, but he mostly relies on people's overreactions. If nobody knows enough to make any rash decisions without thinking things through, nothing will come from it."

"I'm sure you're right. We'll leave the matter to you then," Sonia said. With a confident smile on her face, she nodded at him and turned around. It was a little impressive to see that the others immediately followed her lead and left the park, while Mikan quietly joined them when they passed her.

In no time, he was alone with Chiaki who stared at the arcade with a bit of a forlorn look. When she realized that he was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, she smiled a little sheepishly. "I really liked the Twilight Syndrome games. It's a shame that Monokuma meddled with it. It almost feels like he tainted the series." Then she sighed and shook her head. "I just have to think of it as a bad fan hack. It has nothing to do with the original."

"If you're quite done reminiscing, do you think you can handle playing the game now?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Chiaki almost pouted. "I can play it anytime. It's not like I can't handle it. It's more… imagine if you were served a delicious meal you've been waiting for years to have, only to find out that Monokuma cooked it."

Byakuya wrinkled his nose. He could have gone without picturing that scenario. "Alright, I get the point. Try to put your disgust behind you while we play it."

* * *

 **A/N:** Writing this took a lot longer than I thought. Even once I had time to write again, I spent so much time staring at the document only writing a sentence or two, it's not even funny.

It ended up being more of a transitional chapter, but this was probably the best place to make a cut. There will be a lot more characters and plot threads to keep track of rather soon, so I didn't want to touch upon that yet. With the chapter ending where it does, you get to see where the story is going next, but it still has a basis in canon, so remembering what was last going on after a break should be easier. Unfortunately, that's relevant because the next chapter will probably take another while to get posted. I'm guessing around February? I feel terribly sorry that I have to take two longer breaks in a row, but it's a bit of a weird time right now. I plan on having more regular chapters again after that, I swear.

Also, this is basically the only motive I'll take from the game, because it's a good motive and it fits nicely into the plot. But neither the despair disease nor the funhouse will appear in this story.


End file.
